BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $43.97 Million Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 85.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 453,454 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,716,154 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $43,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,014,633,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $664,742,000 after buying an additional 2,044,862 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1,527.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,160,494 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $112,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,199 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 12,833,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,244,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,297,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $422,450,000 after acquiring an additional 975,777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $103.53 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $74.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued 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 net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 57.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BMO. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “sector perform” rating for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.