Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Short Interest Down 18.7% in February

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,900,000 shares, a decline of 18.7% from the January 31st total of 10,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 644,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 13.8 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, reaching $99.43. 643,941 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 630,525. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The stock has a market cap of $72.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $99.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.34.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,014,633,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $664,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044,862 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,184,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.