Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Boosts Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,987 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $9,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 140.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $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 Stock Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at $97.00 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $106.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.80. The company has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

About Bank of Montreal

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.