Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.4 %

BMO opened at $100.53 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.65 and a 200-day moving average of $93.30. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $104.63. The company has a market capitalization of $73.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.1329 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 63.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BMO. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the third quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.