Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 55,674 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $5,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,795,000 after buying an additional 2,177 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 8.7% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,848,917 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $167,017,000 after purchasing an additional 103,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 165,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,919,000 after purchasing an additional 10,792 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $96.70 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.40.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BMO. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal 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.