Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Stock Position Decreased by Investors Research Corp

Investors Research Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,037 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after buying an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during 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 grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.5% during 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 grew 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 valued at $383,449,000 after buying an additional 3,074,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,701,814 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $358,991,000 after buying an additional 248,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.8 %

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $97.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.67. 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 has a market capitalization of $71.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

Bank of Montreal 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.