First Bank & Trust Purchases New Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

First Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 11,598 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,126,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Alliance purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $777,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 13,902 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 3,319 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,371 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,074,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,392,000 shares of the bank's stock worth $135,067,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" 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 report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $100.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,226,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,284. The company has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $98.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.07. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.1329 dividend. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.18%.

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.