Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 103,495 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,848,917 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 103,495 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $167,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 138.4% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $407,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,816,385 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock worth $439,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,532 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter worth about $80,915,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,231,564,000 after acquiring an additional 692,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,562,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,052,000 after purchasing an additional 579,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO opened at $94.92 on Monday. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.87 and a 200 day moving average of $88.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $69.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.4 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BMO. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Securities cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

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.