Desjardins Expects Weaker Earnings for Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) – Equities research analysts at Desjardins dropped their FY2025 earnings estimates for Bank of Montreal in a research report issued on Thursday, December 5th. Desjardins analyst D. Young now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $7.74 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $7.78. The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal’s current full-year earnings is $7.79 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for Bank of Montreal’s FY2026 earnings at $8.95 EPS.

BMO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $133.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Friday, December 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $100.81 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.41. The firm has a market cap of $73.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.10. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 67.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.9% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,231,564,000 after acquiring an additional 692,049 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.8% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $613,138,000 after purchasing an additional 463,924 shares in the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after purchasing an additional 625,797 shares in the last quarter. 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.