Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Lowered to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Bank of Montreal from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a neutral rating for the company. Desjardins downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Seven 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, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at $83.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.96 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 8.25%. On average, analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 6.4% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,020,683 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,588,000 after purchasing an additional 61,083 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,605,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,403,431 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,789,000 after buying an additional 69,111 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,220 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,458,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.