Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Acquired by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 180.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 969 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 624 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $94,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 207.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,049 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $104.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.91, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $98.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.76.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 63.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.