Townsend & Associates Inc Invests $214,000 in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Townsend & Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,225 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 192.1% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 3,375.0% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 417 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 117.5% in the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 3rd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMO traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $93.48. 246,767 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 722,174. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.14. 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 quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1172 per share. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.79%.

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.