Desjardins Decreases Earnings Estimates for Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) – Stock analysts at Desjardins decreased their FY2025 EPS estimates for Bank of Montreal in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, December 5th. Desjardins analyst D. Young now expects that the bank will post earnings of $7.74 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $7.78. The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal’s current full-year earnings is $7.97 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for Bank of Montreal’s FY2026 earnings at $8.95 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BMO. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $133.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Friday. Bank of America lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at $103.39 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.33 and its 200 day moving average is $88.36. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $75.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 326,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,773,000 after acquiring an additional 5,821 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 2,455 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after buying an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,130,000 after buying an additional 307,466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.1329 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.62%.

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.