Guardian Partners Inc. Invests $37.13 Million in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 377,671 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $37,129,000. Bank of Montreal accounts for 3.8% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Guardian Partners Inc. owned about 0.05% of Bank of Montreal at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded 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 shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of BMO opened at $96.70 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $99.44 and its 200 day moving average is $95.40. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $106.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.09%.

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.