Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 544,767 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 3.92% of Bank of Montreal worth $2,795,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3,375.0% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 417 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Desjardins cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE BMO traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $86.95. 575,651 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 973,114. The company’s 50-day moving average is $87.65 and its 200-day moving average is $91.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a $1.125 dividend. This represents a $4.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.25%.

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.