RY vs BMO: Royal Bank of Canada vs Bank of Montreal Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Royal Bank is Canada's largest bank with strong wealth management, capital markets, and HSBC Canada integration, while BMO has significantly expanded into the US through BMO Harris and Bank of the West acquisition. Both are high-quality Canadian banks with US diversification ambitions.
RY vs BMO is Canada's largest bank with wealth management depth versus a Canadian bank aggressively expanding in the US — Royal Bank wins if City National credit remediation and HSBC Canada integration sustain earnings quality; BMO wins if US commercial banking integration delivers synergies.
RY holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. RY has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+37.62% vs +35.23%), though BMO has the better forward P/E setup (14.30x vs 16.20x for RY). On fundamentals, BMO is growing revenue faster (12.00%), while RY maintains the higher operating margin (46.44%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: -0.30% for RY and +0.51% for BMO.
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- want Canada's largest, most diversified bank with global wealth management and capital markets
- value HSBC Canada as an additive commercial banking acquisition with international client relationships
- prefer Royal Bank's stronger historical track record in Canadian banking profitability and capital management
- are comfortable with City National credit quality remediation as a near-term headwind
- prefer a Canadian bank with a significant US commercial banking presence through BMO Harris and Bank of the West
- value US geographic diversification with Midwest and Pacific Coast commercial banking footprint
- believe Bank of the West integration delivers cost and revenue synergies over 2-3 years
- want more US banking growth exposure than Royal Bank's primarily Canadian wealth management focus
| Metric | RY | BMO |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 51.3 | 51.1 |
| AI ranki | #282 | #948 |
| Latest closei | $197.43 | $166.12 |
| 1M returni | -2.40% | -3.76% |
| 3M returni | -7.80% | -8.07% |
| 6M returni | +12.07% | +10.98% |
| 1Y returni | +37.62% | +35.23% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | RY | BMO |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.94K (+39.4%) started 2025-10-16 | $13.73K (+37.3%) started 2025-10-16 |
| 5Y ago | $26.3K (+163.0%) started 2021-10-18 | $23.35K (+133.5%) started 2021-10-18 |
| 10Y ago | $67.79K (+577.9%) started 2016-10-17 | $61.21K (+512.1%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | RY | BMO |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $287.77B | $118.42B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 18.20 | 19.26 |
| Forward P/Ei | 16.20 | 14.30 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | -0.62 | -0.04 |
| Analyst targeti | $207.23 | $170.73 |
| Target upsidei | -0.30% | +0.51% |
| Metric | RY | BMO |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 8.90% | 12.00% |
| Earnings growthi | 12.80% | -24.20% |
| EPS growthi | +12.80% | -24.20% |
| FCF margini | N/A | N/A |
| Operating margini | 46.44% | 30.50% |
| Profit margini | 33.87% | 25.66% |
| ROIC proxyi | 16.21% | 10.57% |
| Return on equityi | 16.21% | 10.57% |
| Dividend yieldi | 2.49% | 2.95% |
| Payout ratioi | 41.49% | 54.44% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.93 | 1.15 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | N/A |
| Current ratioi | N/A | N/A |
| Quick ratioi | N/A | N/A |
Over the past year, RY and BMO have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.82), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | RY | BMO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +37.62% | +35.23% |
| CAGRi | +37.65% | +35.26% | |
| Volatilityi | 16.29% | 20.28% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.77 | 1.37 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.69 | 1.97 | |
| Max drawdowni | 12.01% | 13.51% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.84% | 10.60% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 2.72% | 2.97% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 4.07% | 4.51% | |
| Max daily dropi | 2.79% | 3.75% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 5.63% | 6.98% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +119.83% | +88.53% |
| CAGRi | +17.09% | +13.54% | |
| Volatilityi | 18.21% | 21.46% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.71 | 0.49 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.03 | 0.68 | |
| Max drawdowni | 28.69% | 34.29% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.84% | 10.60% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.93% | 12.38% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 10.61% | 15.56% | |
| Max daily dropi | 6.46% | 9.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.19% | 10.19% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +345.25% | +280.31% |
| CAGRi | +16.11% | +14.30% | |
| Volatilityi | 19.79% | 23.78% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.63 | 0.49 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.90 | 0.69 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.95% | 50.97% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.84% | 10.60% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.97% | 10.29% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.74% | 14.22% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.53% | 16.12% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.05% | 32.61% |
| Category | RY | BMO |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Royal Bank of Canada | Bank of Montreal |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Banks - Diversified | Banks - Diversified |
| Core business | Canada's largest bank by market cap with personal and commercial banking, wealth management (RBC Dominion Securities, RBC Global Asset Management), capital markets, insurance, and US banking (City National). RBC recently acquired HSBC Canada. | Canadian bank with a large US presence through BMO Harris Bank (acquired Bank of the West in 2023, making BMO one of the top 15 US banks). BMO has commercial banking, personal banking, BMO Capital Markets, and BMO Wealth Management. |
| Investor focus | HSBC Canada integration benefits, capital markets revenue, US City National credit quality improvement, wealth management AUM growth, and CET1 capital ratio. | Bank of the West integration and US commercial banking profitability, credit quality in commercial real estate, capital adequacy, and NIM in Canada and the US. |
- Royal Bank is Canada's largest and most diversified bank — a safe designation in Canadian banking regulation
- Wealth management is a growing high-margin segment through RBC Dominion and RBC GAM with global HNW clients
- HSBC Canada acquisition expands RBC's commercial banking and international client relationships in Canada
- BMO Harris's US expansion creates a large US commercial banking franchise in the Midwest with Bank of the West's Pacific Coast presence added
- BMO Capital Markets is a significant investment banking business with both Canadian and US client relationships
- US commercial banking diversification reduces Canada-only concentration risk vs smaller Canadian banks
- City National Bank in the US experienced significant credit quality issues including losses on office CRE — remediation is ongoing
- HSBC Canada integration adds complexity and execution risk in the near term
- Capital markets revenue is cyclical — investment banking and trading can compress earnings in slow deal markets
- Bank of the West integration is complex and the US commercial banking market is highly competitive
- Commercial real estate credit quality concerns are relevant for BMO's US commercial book
- BMO's US expansion has increased capital intensity and leverage relative to purely Canadian operations
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