Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Acquired by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 45.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,007 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,769 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $1,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 44.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,686,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,897 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.5 %

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $98.58 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.60. The stock has a market cap of $71.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

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.