| SELL | 49.120 | Norman Levine | Pretty much the most risky bank in Canada. Have exposure in the US through the Harris Bank and there will be headwinds in the US. Growth is also going to slow down in Canada. | 2008-05-12 | |
| DON'T BUY | 49.000 | Bruce Campbell | His least favourite bank. Doesn't like the direction they are going. Had some problems but had a decent rebound. | 2008-05-09 | |
| HOLD | 50.480 | Robert Floyd | Have experienced a view issues in terms of some of their trading operations as well as with the asset backed paper. Thanks a lot of these banks have been tremendously oversold. You'll probably see higher highs over time. | 2008-04-29 | |
| BUY | 49.660 | Duncan Stewart | No one bank seems to do really well over the long term or really badly over the long-term. Right now, this bank has gotten completely hammered. Likes this one at this price. 2nd-highest yielding bank after the National (NA-T). 5.7% yield. | 2008-04-25 | |
| BUY | 46.150 | Ben Cheng | (Market Call Minute.) Think they have written down their balance sheet correctly and is worth looking at. | 2008-04-16 | |
| BUY | 45.810 | Michael Sprung | Has been hit hard, not just by the problems in the credit market, but also by other problems that have happened on their trading side and other areas. Also, their US franchise is subject to some of the slowdown. Selling at a severe discount to the other banks at about 1.6X BV. If you are a long-term investor, you might want to step in at this point. | 2008-04-15 | |
| DON'T BUY | 46.610 | Paul Thornton | This one has been the worst performer. He is not a buyer of the banks at this time. Doesn't know if we are at the bottom or not. Not worth taking a gamble on yet. | 2008-04-11 | |
| Comment | 47.120 | Paul Gardner, CFA | In 3 years out you will make money because the valuations and returns on capital are decent at this point in time. Prefers Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and Royal (RY-T). | 2008-04-10 | |
| DON'T BUY | 46.700 | Ron Meisels | When you have a stock that has broken below the 200-day moving average and then starts to trend down and continues to be below the 200-day moving average, don't touch it. | 2008-04-08 | |
| TOP PICK | 46.640 | Jeff Parent | In technical analysis, one of the greatest observations is “selling climax”. This is where you have panic selling and then someone creating a Stop level where they feel value is. | 2008-04-02 | |
| SELL | 45.930 | Norman Levine | Sell the stock here, no growth prospects ahead. | 2008-03-27 | |
| DON'T BUY | 45.000 | Ken McCord | Attractive from a yield perspective, but very unattractive as a buy.
Banks are still expensive.
A they screen poorly,
B not sure the values there.
C We are going to be in a range on these bank stocks for some time. | 2008-03-26 | |
| WATCH | 46.930 | Benj Gallander | Believes there will still be some major hits in the financial market. Be very wary. | 2008-03-25 | |
| WATCH | 44.510 | Robert Floyd | Announcement from company is interesting on short term basis. They've forestalled having to take a right down immediately of 500 million. Could spring back a bit more. Would look hard at it. | 2008-03-20 | |
| DON'T BUY | 41.890 | David Baskin | Can’t trust management. Not interested. High dividend, which should remain. | 2008-03-18 | |
| SELL | 41.790 | Laura Wallace | (Caller has this in his RRSP.) Major disappointment. Yielding over 6%, which is a bit of a warning sign. If you own in an RRSP, she would consider diversifying into other financials such as Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) or Toronto Dominion (TD-T) which have shown abilities to weather this environment. | 2008-03-12 | |
| Comment | 41.910 | Kenneth P. Norquay, CMT | Stock has been in a downtrend for a year and it's very serious right now. From a technician's point of view, the uptrend has been broken and the Sell point was at about $63. There could be another climax approaching. There was a climax reversal in January and the financials did bounce, but unfortunately it wasn't over. | 2008-03-11 | |
| SELL | 42.100 | Norman Levine | Recently sold his holdings. Had bought it because it was a low risk bank for value investors. It is not low risk. Keeps coming out with things they should not have been in. Disclosure is just being dribbled out. | 2008-03-10 | |
| BUY | 48.360 | John O'Connell, CFA | (Market Call Minute.) It's a Buy but be careful because there are some problems in here. | 2008-03-03 | |
| WAIT | 49.700 | Robert Floyd | They have to get through a few issues. Face potential write-downs of some assets. At some juncture, it's going to be a tremendous opportunity as the dividend yield is going to offer some basic support for the stock and he expects it is getting very close to that. He would prefer to wait and see what other issues there will be. | 2008-02-29 | |
| HOLD | 52.350 | Peter Brieger | (Market Call Minute.) Thinks there is more bad news to come in all likelihood. The question is, how much. | 2008-02-28 | |
| Comment | 53.800 | David Baskin | Canadian banks are currently trading at PE’s that are about 20% to 25% less than what they where 18 months ago. Yields have gone up generally from about 3% to about 4%. Can't get hurt too badly at these prices and yields. This is probably the weakest Canadian bank. The Harris Bank asset in Chicago is not helping them. Can't see a growth platform going forward. | 2008-02-19 | |
| DON'T BUY | 53.830 | David Burrows | 5.25% yield. In the 3rd week of January, the market bottomed and then rallied in the first 10 days. In the first 2 weeks after, when the market was retesting lows, financials turned tail and headed straight south again. | 2008-02-15 | |
| Comment | 56.450 | Brian Acker, CA | 21.5% upside on his model price. | 2008-02-07 | |
| BUY | 56.700 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Has gone down with the sector. Not his favourite, but it is a Canadian bank that makes a lot of money. Valuation of 8X earnings is pretty compelling. Trades about 2X Book. Canadian banks will increase their dividends and will continue to make money. | 2008-02-05 | |
| BUY | 58.150 | David Baskin | Economic environment for banks is very good in Canada now. Low interest rates help them. Dividend yields are terrific when compared to a 10-year Canada bond. Prefers Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T). | 2008-02-04 | |
| TOP PICK | 58.070 | Brendan Caldwell | Likes the financial sector. This is a bank stock that has really come off in price. Probably doesn't have any major issues but does have the potential of being one of the great takeover candidates if bank mergers are ever allowed. Yield of almost 5%. | 2008-02-01 | |
| BUY | 56.750 | Mike Lyons CA, CFA | Basically believes that the banking system will muddle through this problem. A basket of these financials with the yields they’re offering can be a very effective way to invest. Buy in measured proportions. | 2008-01-31 | |
| HOLD | 56.150 | Norman Levine | (Market Call Minute.) In the near-term, it's not going to go anywhere for you but in the long term he would be a Buyer. | 2008-01-07 | |
| DON'T BUY | 56.300 | Benj Gallander | See comments under Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T). | 2007-12-24 | |
| SELL | 55.690 | David Cockfield | (Market Call Minute.) Not sure what they may have in their back pocket. | 2007-12-21 | |
| DON'T BUY | 56.370 | Glenn Paradis, BA, CFA | In the long run, you need exposure in Canadian banks. This one has been the poor stepchild in the banking group. Have had exposure to all the bad things in the market and less exposure to the good things. Would prefer Toronto Dominion (TD-T) to any of the banks right now. | 2007-12-17 | |
| Comment | 60.290 | John Zechner | Getting interesting at these levels. Trading at 10X next year's earnings. | 2007-12-05 | |
| SELL | 55.040 | Paul Thornton | (Market Call Minute) Banks are weak. The entire financial services is weak, Market is in a correction. | 2007-11-21 | |
| HOLD | 57.180 | Gavin Graham | (Involved with bank) Has proved to be a good thing to buy banks with such high dividends compared to the 10 year government of Canada. The banks have done nothing this year. | 2007-11-19 | |
| Comment | 61.870 | Michael Sprung | Selling at just over 2X book that looks like a relatively good Buy, but they have had problems with a few write-offs. The real problem has always been where is the growth in their business model going to come from. ROE of 16% is low compared to other banks. | 2007-11-06 | |
| DON'T BUY | 60.620 | Bruce Campbell | This is his least favourite bank. The growth outlook is worse than the others. Their strategy is a bit muddled and seems unclear. They have large US retail exposure. He is very cautious about this bank. | 2007-10-24 | |
| TOP PICK | 60.730 | Richard Croft | (Long Term Covered Call) For someone seeking income. Get 5 dividend payments between now and 2009. Overall return is better than 16% (assuming BMO doesn’t move). You could go down by $5 per share and still break even, while getting a 7% payout. | 2007-10-19 | |
| TOP PICK | 62.180 | Bob Stodgell | The lowest price to book. Big yield. They have a lot of initiatives, which if they work out, will be very good. Even if they don't it will be fine. | 2007-10-18 | |
| BUY | 63.770 | Robert Floyd | Made an acquisition of the Harris bank in the Chicago area and the feeling is they will be making an additional acquisition. Valuation is probably reasonable right now. In the past, they have had a few issues. | 2007-10-12 | |
| BUY | 65.190 | John O'Connell, CFA | Generally speaking, Canadian banks are pretty well run. They struggled a lot recently but they'll get their act together. Has a decent yield. Decent value at this price. | 2007-10-04 | |
| BUY | 65.870 | Norman Levine | Longer term, the Canadian banks will be a good place to be. | 2007-10-02 | |
| DON'T BUY | 62.650 | Bruce Campbell | Feels it has the least growth profile of the big 5. Has the worst exposure by a long shot to the commercial paper side. Highest dividend yield. | 2007-09-25 | |
| DON'T BUY | 62.210 | Brian Acker, CA | Banks have big corrections 22% upside. Prefers to trade them, then buy/hold them. Main trend will be down for banks, maybe for years. There will come a time again for banks. | 2007-09-20 | |
| DON'T BUY | 62.220 | Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA, CFA | Got into terrible gas trading deals with the hedge fund Amaranth and is still unwinding from this. Last quarter cost them $.19. Management increased dividend to indicate they have the cash flow. He feels it will take a little while to work out. Feels the | 2007-09-12 | |
| DON'T BUY | 64.530 | Chris Smith | Harris Bank in Chicago continues to largely under perform. A lot of Bank of Montreal earnings have been heavily driven by trading in capital markets related revenue and are not creating growth in other parts of the banking business. | 2007-08-30 | |
| Comment | 65.400 | Nick Majendie | Just disclosed they are having continual difficulties getting their natural gas commodities trade book down to comfortable levels and are absorbing further losses. | 2007-08-29 | |
| TOP PICK | 61.250 | Norman Levine | This could apply to any of the Canadian banks, but this one came off the most and has the highest yield at 4.4%. Sub prime exposure is minimal. Financials led the market down, but will lead the market up. Quality names will do very, very well. | 2007-08-15 | |
| BUY | 61.270 | Rob Callander | Haven't heard too much about how the subprime loans are going to affect them. It has the highest yield (over 4%) of any of the 5 major Canadian banks. | 2007-08-14 | |
| BUY | 64.750 | Michael Smedley | Yield is about 4.15%. The yield many go a little bit higher. Reporting is coming up shortly with the banks and there is some concern on sub primes. | 2007-08-03 | |
| Comment | 66.590 | Michael Decter | Thinks the new CEO will be doing a terrific job. They take him a little while to find his feet. They have the Harris Bank in Chicago, which is a very competitive area. | 2007-07-31 | |
| BUY | 68.530 | Norman Levine | Has been controversial of late, because of problems in the Natural gas market. This is a one time problem, and it will pick up.
He would buy at this level. | 2007-06-12 | |
| TOP PICK | 69.450 | Bob Stodgell | Market is volatile, but is yielding at least 4%. If BMO comes around, then there will be gains, which may be 10 or 12%.
Bought recently over the last 2 or 3 days. | 2007-06-11 | |
| WEAK BUY | 70.920 | Ross Healey | He doesn't particularly like this sector but Bank of Montreal is his current favorite, since it was beaten up the other day on the commodity scandel.
Gave a bit of a trading opportunity. | 2007-06-01 | |
| BUY | 71.350 | Robert Floyd | Felt the stock got hit a little bit too much on the downside. Felt their last numbers where little bit stronger than what had been targeted. | 2007-05-30 | |
| BUY | 71.350 | Norman Levine | Had some trouble with commodity trading losses. This may hurt them for a little while, but should focus them more on how to grow earnings in other areas. The weakness is an opportunity for a long time hold. | 2007-05-30 | |
| Comment | 71.290 | Pat McHugh | Has taken a hit recently because of its energy trading division. Has been oversold. Yields about 3.9%. Need to see the new CEO start to put together new situations. Only a Buy for the yield. | 2007-05-28 | |
| BUY | 70.070 | Brian Acker, CA | A positive 15% differential. | 2007-05-24 | |
| BUY | 69.090 | Norman Levine | Just had a $680 million loss. Not too happy with what has gone on. However, the reaction of investors can sometimes create opportunities. In the long run, what the bank does, day-to-day, hasn't changed. He is buying for new clients. | 2007-05-18 | |
| Comment | 69.090 | Benj Gallander | He never buys stocks over $25. Although this had a pullback, percentage wise it wasn't very much. | 2007-05-18 | |
| HOLD | 68.450 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Not their favourite bank, but is sure it will bounce back. | 2007-05-03 | |
| Comment | 71.280 | Ron Meisels | The banking sector has a bit of a problem at this stage, because if he is right and there is a bear market once we are finished this bull market, the banks could be causing the downleg. | 2007-03-21 | |
| WEAK BUY | 70.050 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Not much exposure to sub prime mortgages, but US mortgages have been tightened. US Harris Bank is only regional and had poor earnings last quarter. BMO has the lowest retail franchise in Canada. With dividend, you could see 10% return in the next year. | 2007-03-19 | |
| BUY | 68.600 | Norman Levine | Has been a laggard. Historically, buying the laggard banks and holding them through the cycle is a good way to outperform. | 2007-03-13 | |
| BUY | 69.450 | Brian Acker, CA | 3.9% yield which is higher than the other banks. Caller is using a DRIP on this one. His model price is $78.90, a 14% positive differential. | 2007-03-08 | |
| BUY | 69.530 | Gavin Graham | Banks have had some pretty decent earnings growth despite the flat yield curve and margins being squeezed. | 2007-03-06 | |
| DON'T BUY | 70.760 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Going through a transition with a new CEO. Their retail business is not as strong as Royal Bank (RY-T) and Toronto Dominion (TD-T). | 2007-02-05 | |
| BUY | 70.430 | Peter Brieger | If you're looking for a cheap choice among the banks, this would probably be one because of the higher dividend. | 2007-02-02 | |
| DON'T BUY | 70.010 | Laura Wallace | Not one of her favourites. Has done really well with declining interest rates. Reasonable investment, but would prefer Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) or Toronto Dominion (TD-T). | 2007-01-31 | |
| BUY | 68.600 | Norman Levine | This would be a value bank among the banks. Has the best yield. Hopefully new management will be more aggressive. | 2006-12-20 | |
| BUY | 68.550 | Michael Sprung | Banks are a relatively good place to be. Earning extremely good return on equity. Capital investment market has been fairly strong. Not as interest sensitive as they used to be. Good dividend yields. | 2006-12-08 | |
| BUY | 71.740 | Rob Callander | Big believer in the banks even though they are trading at high levels. Have been increasing their payout ratios and have strong earnings in this quarter. Also feel interest rates may be lower in the next year. This is the highest yielding in the banks. | 2006-11-23 | |
| HOLD | 71.540 | David Baskin | People want dividends and companies that are increasing their dividends and the Banks fit that to a T. This one has had a terrific ride. Prefer the other four. Won't appreciate as much as the other banks. | 2006-11-21 | |
| DON'T BUY | 68.140 | Bruce Campbell | His least favourite of the big 5 banks. They lag in growth. | 2006-10-05 | |
| TOP PICK | 66.610 | Rob Callander | Right well managed and doing a good job. The highest dividend-yielding bank and he can see more dividend increases coming. Good defensive play against current market volatility. | 2006-09-12 | |
| BUY | 64.930 | Robert Floyd | In banks, he likes to Toronto Dominion (TD-T), Bank of Montréal (BMO-T) and feels that The Canadian Bank of Commerce (CM-T) has potential. | 2006-08-18 | |
| DON'T BUY | 63.120 | Brian Acker, CA | Talking of increasing their dividend. Made a good deal in China. They are facing headwinds now. His model price is $70 which is only a 9% differential and is falling. | 2006-08-02 | |
| DON'T BUY | 61.500 | Paul Gardner, CFA | 4% yield which is the highest in Canadian banks. Their domestic franchise is not as powerful and doesn't make as much return on equity as others. Also, has US exposure on the Harris Bank and with a flattened yield curve, it is not good. | 2006-07-07 | |
| DON'T BUY | 60.570 | Chyanne Fickes | Have issues with its US assets. The last quarter’s earnings were good, but the quality of them was not good. Had a dramatic increase with their dividend. Has been the worst performing bank this year to date. | 2006-07-04 | |
| BUY | 61.570 | Gavin Graham | 4% yield. Besides racing their dividend at the last annual meeting, they also increased the payout ratio from 35% to 40% to 55% which makes them the highest paying amongst the Canadian banks. | 2006-06-12 | |
| WEAK BUY | 62.370 | David Baskin | Not his favourite bank stock. Earnings were superficially pretty good although they were boosted by a lower than expected income tax rate. Lifted their dividend payout ratio by 10%. | 2006-05-25 | |
| HOLD | 61.050 | Brad Willock | Bank's trading at 14 X are expensive while those trading at 12 X are cheap and it looks like banks are heading back down towards that level. | 2006-05-11 | |
| BUY | 62.230 | Brian Acker, CA | Looks very good to him here. The model price is $72.94. A 17% differential. Sees values in the banks. Feels the banks are correcting here because the US banks have corrected. | 2006-05-10 | |
| DON'T BUY | 62.640 | Laura Wallace | Banks are trading down because of interest rates. There has been a big move in the long end of the bond market. She prefers Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) which have reasonably good value but wouldn't chase them. | 2006-05-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | 64.600 | Paul Harris, CFA | A good bank and trades in the multiples with the rest of the banks. Prefers TD and Royal better. | 2006-04-18 | |
| DON'T BUY | 66.020 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Their last quarter beat the streets estimates. However, looking into the numbers, they were weak numbers because most of a bump came from trading revenue. You never own a bank because of their trading revenue because it is volatile. Their commercial lending business has suffered with lower margins. Expected to under perform relative to the other banks. | 2006-04-04 | |
| BUY | 65.980 | Brian Acker, CA | His model price is $73.90. A positive 12.5% differential. 3% dividend. | 2006-03-29 | |
| HOLD | 65.880 | Laura Wallace | Believes that Bank of Montreal could be taken over. She prefers other banks eg. TD or Bank of Nova Scotia. Banks are very liquid. Hold if you own. | 2006-03-15 | |
| BUY | 68.970 | Norman Levine | Owns and likes it. It's a slower grower, not involved in risky areas. Views it as a take over target down the road. | 2006-02-28 | |
| BUY | 66.880 | Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTA | Factor in whether or not the government will allow takeovers. Prime target. Considerable amount of support for all the banks. They have all broken out. Not a bear market. Banks are something to own. | 2006-02-08 | |
| DON'T BUY | 67.430 | Paul Harris, CFA | Thinks the Canadian banks are fairly priced at these levels. There is more upside, but they certainly are not cheap. | 2006-01-20 | |
| WEAK BUY | 63.010 | Laura Wallace | Not one of her favourites. Prefers Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) and Toronto Dominion (TD-T). Its latest earnings were quite good and surprised the street on the upside. Has lagged in having a coherent expansion strategy. | 2005-12-12 | |
| DON'T BUY | 59.350 | Bruce Campbell | Thinks you will only see low $60's in a year. Less of a growth profile than in other banks. | 2005-11-21 | |
| BUY | 57.300 | Bob Stodgell | Likes the banks. They all have very high returns on equity. | 2005-10-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 57.280 | Rob Callander | (A Top Pick Apr 20/05. Up 2.8%.) Still likes. A takeover possibility. Still buying. | 2005-10-05 | |
| DON'T BUY | 57.650 | Don Vialoux | This sector does very well from the end of September to the end of December. This is one of the few that have not gone into all time highs recently. | 2005-10-03 | |
| BUY | 58.300 | Norman Levine | Probably the lowest risk Canadian bank. Good yield. Good exposure in the US. | 2005-09-28 | |
| BUY | 59.280 | Michael Smedley | A solid blue chip with a good dividend. | 2005-09-27 | |
| BUY | 57.570 | Norman Levine | In the long run the best investments in Canada have been bank stocks. If this is your only bank stock, then don't sell. This is a good name to be in. | 2005-09-20 | |
| BUY | 57.370 | Bruce Campbell | Tends to lag the other banks. Whenever there's talk of mergers, this stock pops up a little bit and then goes back after the talks die down. Mid $50's is a place you can buy and then sell at $60 for a bit of a gain or hold for the long term as it will be a takeover eventually. 3.4% yield. | 2005-09-12 | |
Experts that have talked about Bank of Montreal
