Romano Brothers AND Company Boosts Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,933 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $5,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMO. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $285,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $106,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,020 shares of the bank’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,108,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.2 %

BMO stock opened at $98.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.67. The stock has a market cap of $72.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.58%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.62%.

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.