Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Purchased by SlateStone Wealth LLC

SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,277 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,439,190,000 after buying an additional 105,475,200 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $812,644,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $976,870,000 after purchasing an additional 5,729,145 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 38.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,069,787 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,318,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874,573 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,911,635,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187,998 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Desjardins cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $88.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $73.98 and a one year high of $100.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.87.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.10). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $5.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.96 billion. Analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a $1.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $4.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.07%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.25%.

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.