Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Position Reduced by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,273 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,976 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,191,193 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,294,121,000 after purchasing an additional 468,761 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 10.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,783,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,247,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,298 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,495,589 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,435,002,000 after purchasing an additional 738,579 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 14,042,593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,184,774,000 after purchasing an additional 679,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,326,233 shares of the bank’s stock worth $704,551,000 after purchasing an additional 29,706 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO stock traded up $1.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $93.05. The company had a trading volume of 454,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,382. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.14. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $73.98 and a one year high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $93.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.59.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 11.89%. Equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1172 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $4.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.79%.

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.