Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC cut its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,448 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 575 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 486,421 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,219,000 after acquiring an additional 77,285 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.2% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 171,717 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,488,000 after buying an additional 6,901 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 848,655 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,966,000 after buying an additional 104,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $249,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BMO. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 1.7 %

BMO stock opened at $91.13 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $73.98 and a 1-year high of $100.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.65. The firm has a market cap of $66.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.13.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.34). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1172 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.02%.

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.