JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Raises Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,711,773 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 426,442 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal makes up approximately 3.8% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $651,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BMO. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $99.56 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $95.26 and its 200 day moving average is $96.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. 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 P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the subject of several recent research reports. CIBC cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Cibc World Mkts cut Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently 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.