Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Grows Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,167 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 428 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 3,375.0% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 417 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 117.5% during the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BMO. UBS Group began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Desjardins cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE BMO traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $86.97. The stock had a trading volume of 575,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 791,612. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The company has a market cap of $63.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $1.125 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $4.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.17%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 74.25%.

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.