Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,093 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $4,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 140.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $98.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $99.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BMO shares. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

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.