Sapient Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 2,516 Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,516 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BMO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,431,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 82.7% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,404,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $400,992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,161 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,247,154,000 after buying an additional 1,417,298 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 6.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,478,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,651,736,000 after buying an additional 1,293,280 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,544,892 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $864,767,000 after buying an additional 1,179,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BMO shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Bank of America raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $92.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.61. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $73.98 and a 12 month high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 11.89%. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1172 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. This represents a $4.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.02%.

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.