Desjardins Reduces Earnings Estimates for Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) – Desjardins dropped their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Bank of Montreal in a report released on Friday, November 1st. Desjardins analyst D. Young now expects that the bank will post earnings of $7.26 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $7.62. The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal’s current full-year earnings is $8.06 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for Bank of Montreal’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.66 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.78 EPS.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS.

BMO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Securities lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $90.76 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $66.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.05. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.33 and a one year high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 29,367 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,411,695 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,371,000 after purchasing an additional 14,809 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% in 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. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,997,000. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the second 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. 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.