Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $3.22 Million in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 33,158 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,220,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,397,000 after acquiring an additional 625,797 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,793,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $432,823,000 after acquiring an additional 114,909 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,701,814 shares of the bank’s stock worth $358,991,000 after acquiring an additional 248,096 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $100.53 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $104.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $73.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $98.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.30.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 63.32%.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.