12,453 Shares in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Purchased by Sciencast Management LP

Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,453 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,216,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,439,190,000 after purchasing an additional 105,475,200 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,073,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,777,561,000 after acquiring an additional 881,992 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,911,635,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187,998 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,495,589 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,435,002,000 after purchasing an additional 738,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 138.3% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $976,870,000 after purchasing an additional 5,729,145 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of BMO traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $86.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,319,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,773. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $73.98 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.28. The stock has a market cap of $63.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.10). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.96 billion. On average, analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $1.125 per share. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 74.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BMO shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Desjardins lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.50.

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.