Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Downgraded to “Sector Perform” at Scotiabank

Scotiabank downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $112.00 price target on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price target of $123.00.

BMO has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday. Desjardins cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their target price for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.8 %

BMO opened at $83.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.70. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $73.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The company has a market cap of $60.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 8.25%. Bank of Montreal’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.37%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 75.25%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMO. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,739 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 28.0% in the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 635 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.