Fulton Bank N.A. Takes $1.41 Million Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 14,497 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,407,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 42,247.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 17,786 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,490,000 after buying an additional 17,744 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter valued at about $235,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,799,287 shares of the bank's stock valued at $158,840,000 after purchasing an additional 34,667 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 62.6% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the bank's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 23.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 164,531 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,810,000 after purchasing an additional 31,374 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $98.43. 715,285 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 546,537. The company has a market cap of $71.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $104.63. The stock's 50 day moving average is $95.99 and its 200 day moving average is $90.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. This is an increase 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 presently 67.34%.

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.