The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, May 29, edition that RBC Dominion Securities analyst Darko Mihelic says slowing growth in Bank of Montreal's Canadian personal and commercial banking business offset a strong second quarter. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that BMO reported core cash earnings per share of $1.71, beating both Mr. Mihelic's forecast of $1.70 and the consensus of $1.65. It also reported both higher-than-estimated revenue and expenses. Mr. Mihelic is concerned with the bank's net income from personal and commercial banking falling short of his estimate ($487-million versus $494-million). The analyst says: "BMO incurred negative operating leverage of minus 2 per cent [year over year] in the quarter. ... Furthermore, loan growth came in at 3-per-cent [year over year] and growth across all loan products have been decelerating for BMO over the last several quarters. We continue to believe it will be challenging for BMO to regain momentum in this business." He continues to rate the shares "sector perform." He lowered his price target to $78 from $79. Analysts on average target the shares at $82.31. Cormark Securities cut BMO to "market perform" from "buy."