Cormark Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) – Equities researchers at Cormark lowered their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Bank of Montreal in a report issued on Wednesday, May 22nd. Cormark analyst L. Persaud now forecasts that the bank will post earnings per share of $8.23 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $8.41. The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal’s current full-year earnings is $8.34 per share. Cormark also issued estimates for Bank of Montreal’s FY2025 earnings at $9.13 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $94.55 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $94.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.06. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $73.98 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The company has a market capitalization of $68.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 7.40%.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1172 dividend. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 85.31%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BMO. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,439,190,000 after purchasing an additional 105,475,200 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,795,402,000 after purchasing an additional 544,767 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,911,635,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187,998 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,783,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,247,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,495,589 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,435,002,000 after purchasing an additional 738,579 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.