71,581 Shares in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Acquired by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 71,581 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $6,947,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after buying an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $760,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after buying an additional 625,797 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,353,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $97.60 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.18. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $71.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. Bank of Montreal’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 raised 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 raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Seven 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.