Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Cibc World Mkts

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was downgraded by investment analysts at Cibc World Mkts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on BMO. CIBC lowered Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $89.27 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.79 and its 200 day moving average is $96.21. The stock has a market cap of $64.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter worth about $45,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

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.