FIL Ltd Purchases 445,303 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,169,083 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 445,303 shares during the period. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $210,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,049 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.6 %

BMO opened at $87.61 on Wednesday. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $98.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.19. The company has a market cap of $63.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. CIBC cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

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.