Fiera Capital Corp Buys 248,096 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,701,814 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 248,096 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal comprises approximately 1.1% of Fiera Capital Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $358,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after buying an additional 625,797 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,793,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $432,823,000 after buying an additional 114,909 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after buying an additional 3,074,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,327,465 shares of the bank’s stock worth $300,137,000 after buying an additional 144,252 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BMO. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued 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 $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $98.66 on Thursday. 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 cap of $72.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $104.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.36.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend 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.