Thompson Investment Management Inc. Sells 230 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,758 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 110.2% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,051 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $345,000. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,797,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $99.61 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.14. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $104.63. The firm has a market cap of $72.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.1329 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is an increase 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 4.55%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

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.