Investment Management Corp of Ontario Sells 2,807 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario decreased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,783 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,807 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $11,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,014,633,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $664,742,000 after purchasing 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% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,160,494 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $112,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,199 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,297,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $422,450,000 after purchasing an additional 975,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,616,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $642,016,000 after purchasing an additional 704,197 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BMO. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, CIBC cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BMO opened at $99.56 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $95.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.35%.

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.