Wall Street Zen Downgrades Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) to Sell

Key Points

• Bank of Montreal's stock rating was downgraded from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a negative outlook from some analysts.
• Royal Bank of Canada has raised its target price for Bank of Montreal from $161 to $168 while maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• The bank’s latest earnings report showed an EPS of $2.33, exceeding estimates, though revenue was below estimates at $6.51 billion, up 9.7% year-over-year.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on BMO. Barclays lowered Bank Of Montreal from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Bank Of Montreal from $161.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank Of Montreal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.00.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

BMO traded up $1.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $122.99. The stock had a trading volume of 307,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,690. The company has a market cap of $88.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.66 and a 200 day moving average of $104.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Bank Of Montreal has a 1 year low of $81.69 and a 1 year high of $123.32.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.84 billion. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.00%.Bank Of Montreal's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank Of Montreal

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 228.9% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 273 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the first quarter valued at $39,000. 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.