Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BMO. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.4 %

BMO stock opened at $100.53 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.40, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $104.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $98.65 and a 200-day moving average of $93.30.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.1329 dividend. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 63.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. CWM LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 54.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 16.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 34,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,088,000 after acquiring an additional 4,918 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,903,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. It operates through Canadian P&C, U.S P&C, BMO Wealth Management, and BMO Capital Markets segments. The company’s personal banking products and services include deposits, mortgages, home lending, consumer credit, small business lending, credit cards, cash management, financial and investment advice, and other banking services; and commercial banking products and services comprise various of financing options and treasury and payment solutions, as well as risk management products.