Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 27.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,215 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,783,968 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,247,154,000 after buying an additional 1,417,298 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 14,042,593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,184,774,000 after buying an additional 679,340 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,191,193 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,294,121,000 after buying an additional 468,761 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,297,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $278,141,000 after buying an additional 301,391 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,224,311 shares of the bank’s stock worth $357,988,000 after buying an additional 237,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $90.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $73.98 and a one year high of $100.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $94.16 and a 200 day moving average of $90.16.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 11.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1172 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. This represents a $4.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 62.02%.

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.