Blue Trust Inc. Buys 451 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 207.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 668 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $91.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $74.48 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.10.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BMO. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank lowered Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.