Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,264 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMO. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 38.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,069,787 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,318,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874,573 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal during the first quarter worth about $307,237,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 138.4% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $407,282,000 after buying an additional 2,816,385 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,412,532 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 19.7% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,848,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $668,951,000 after buying an additional 1,128,281 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $93.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $74.48 and a one year high of $100.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released 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 business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 76.08%.

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.