Wall Street Zen Upgrades Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) to Hold

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on BMO. Natl Bk Canada lowered Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Bank Of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank Of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $128.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.49. Bank Of Montreal has a 12 month low of $85.40 and a 12 month high of $131.36. The firm has a market cap of $91.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.20. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 11.13%.The business had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank Of Montreal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 4.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,121 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 3.6% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in Bank Of Montreal by 40.0% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 4.0% during the third quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.