Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Short Interest Update

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,900,000 shares, a drop of 18.7% from the January 31st total of 10,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 644,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 13.8 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 708,767 shares of the bank's stock valued at $68,786,000 after buying an additional 40,135 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $346,000. Five Oceans Advisors acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,913,716 shares of the bank's stock valued at $185,694,000 after acquiring an additional 64,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 80.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 125,572 shares of the bank's stock valued at $11,344,000 after acquiring an additional 55,823 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $98.58. 414,115 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 628,253. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $99.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.40. The stock has a market cap of $71.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $106.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is presently 57.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.