Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Short Interest Down 41.8% in February

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,180,000 shares, a decrease of 41.8% from the February 13th total of 8,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 651,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.0 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE BMO opened at $97.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.97. 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 has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00. The firm has a market cap of $70.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BMO. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 note on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMO. North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.