Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. 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 shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE BMO opened at $103.03 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.82. 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 firm has a market cap of $75.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Bank of Montreal’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,014,633,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after buying an additional 3,074,389 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $664,742,000 after buying an additional 2,044,862 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,184,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,508 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.