JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd Has $155,000 Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 473.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,595 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the period. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMO. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 244.1% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $96.65. 141,008 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 517,888. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.12 and its 200 day moving average is $90.25. The stock has a market cap of $70.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.1329 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 67.34%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.