Which Is a Better Investment, Bank of Montreal or Citizens Financial Group Inc Stock?

By AAII Staff
September 13, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc.

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. It operates through Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking; U.S. Banking; Wealth Management; and Capital Markets segments. The company offers checking accounts, savings, money markets and certificates of deposits, debit cards, overdrafts, digital banking, credit cards, loans, mortgages, investment and retirement options, 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. It also offers investing, banking, and wealth management advisory; digital investing services; financial solutions for individuals, families, and businesses; offers investment management services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors; and diversified insurance, and wealth and pension de-risking solutions. In addition, the company provides individual life, critical illness and annuity products, as well as segregated funds, and group creditor and travel insurance to customers; debt and equity capital-raising, loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, treasury management, mergers and acquisitions advice, restructurings and recapitalizations, trade finance, and risk mitigation services, as well as a range of banking and other operating services. Further, the company offers research and access to financial markets for institutional, corporate and retail clients through an integrated suite of sales and trading solutions related to debt, foreign exchange, interest rates, credit, equities, securitization, and commodities; provides new product development and origination services, as well as risk management and advisory services for hedging strategies, including in interest rates, foreign exchange rates and commodities prices; and funding and liquidity management services. Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking segment offers deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending products, credit cards, business loans, and wealth management services; and education and point-of-sale finance loans, as well as digital deposit products. This segment serves its customers through telephone service centers, as well as through its online and mobile platforms. The Commercial Banking segment provides various financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, and interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as syndicated loans, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity capital markets services. The company serves customers and small businesses, high- and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as investors, entrepreneurs, and companies and institutions, as well as multifamily, office, industrial, retail, healthcare, and hospitality sectors. The company was formerly known as RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Citizens Financial Group, Inc. in April 2014. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

Latest Banks and Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group, Inc. Stock News

As of September 11, 2026, Bank of Montreal had a $121.5 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $756.4 million. Bank of Montreal’s stock is up 34.7% in 2026, down 1.1% in the previous five trading days and up 38.45% in the past year.

Currently, Bank of Montreal’s price-earnings ratio is 20.0. Bank of Montreal’s trailing 12-month revenue is $25.4 billion with a 25.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 10.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $10.626 per share for the current fiscal year. Bank of Montreal currently has a 3.9% dividend yield.

As of September 11, 2026, Citizens Financial Group, Inc. had a $29.7 billion market cap, putting it in the 90th percentile of all stocks. Citizens Financial Group, Inc.’s stock is up 20.7% in 2026, down 0.5% in the previous five trading days and up 36.04% in the past year.

Currently, Citizens Financial Group, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 15.4. Citizens Financial Group, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $8.2 billion with a 26.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 14.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.300 per share for the current fiscal year. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. currently has a 2.6% dividend yield.

How We Compare Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
Bank of Montreal BMO C
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. CFG B

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Bank of Montreal has a Value Score of 56, which is Average. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a Value Score of 61, which is Value.

The Value Stock Winner: Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is considered to have better value than Bank of Montreal. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Citizens Financial Group, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc. Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
Bank of Montreal BMO C
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. CFG B

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Bank of Montreal has a Growth Score of 47, which is Average. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a Growth Score of 77, which is Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Bank of Montreal. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Citizens Financial Group, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
Bank of Montreal BMO B
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. CFG C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Bank of Montreal has a Earnings Estimate Score of 68, which is Positive. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 55, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Bank of Montreal

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Bank of Montreal has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Citizens Financial Group, Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Bank of Montreal could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc. Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Growth and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Quality.

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Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Bank of Montreal stock has a Value Score of 56, Growth Score of 47 and Estimate Revisions Score of 68.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 61, Growth Score of 77 and Estimate Revisions Score of 55.

Comparing Bank of Montreal, Citizens Financial Group and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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