Short Interest in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Increases By 45.2%

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,520,000 shares, a growth of 45.2% from the February 28th total of 5,180,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 602,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,014,633,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank's stock valued at $664,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044,862 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,184,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,962 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,065,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 1,527.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,160,494 shares of the bank's stock worth $112,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company's stock.

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Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE BMO traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $96.07. 1,104,640 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 852,457. The firm has a market cap of $69.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.13. 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.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of 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 World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" 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.