Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases 356,900 Shares of Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2,974.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 368,900 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 356,900 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.05% of Bank Of Montreal worth $40,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,997,776 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,960,102,000 after buying an additional 503,027 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Bank Of Montreal by 213.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,259,505 shares of the bank’s stock worth $406,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,899,061 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,938,484 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,165,000 after purchasing an additional 303,496 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,864,901 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $369,445,000 after purchasing an additional 163,087 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Bank Of Montreal by 66.5% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,676,637 shares of the bank’s stock worth $351,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank Of Montreal Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of BMO opened at $123.57 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $88.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.04. Bank Of Montreal has a 52-week low of $85.40 and a 52-week high of $131.36.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.21. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 30th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. This is a boost from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Bank Of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BMO. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Friday, August 15th. CIBC raised Bank Of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.00.

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.