Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has C$117.00 price target on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price target of C$134.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on BMO. TD Securities lowered Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price target for the stock from C$130.00 to C$114.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank lowered Bank of Montreal from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and decreased their price target for the stock from C$123.00 to C$112.00 in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a C$122.00 price objective on Bank of Montreal and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$140.00 to C$132.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Cormark reduced their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$129.00 to C$118.00 in a report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$121.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

TSE BMO opened at C$112.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of C$82.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.16. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of C$102.67 and a one year high of C$133.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$116.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$122.52.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported C$2.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.74 by C($0.15). The business had revenue of C$7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$8.06 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 21.21%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 11.472973 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.35%.

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.