Aviva PLC Buys 95,848 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 439,079 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 95,848 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Bank of Montreal worth $42,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank's stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,049 shares of the bank's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock traded up $1.31 on Friday, reaching $90.29. The stock had a trading volume of 396,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 862,267. The business's 50 day moving average is $97.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00. The company has a market cap of $65.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is 57.09%.

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.