44,409 Shares in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Purchased by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 44,409 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $4,309,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 140.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Cibc World Mkts cut Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Remove Ads

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO stock traded up $2.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.11. 910,159 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 864,113. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $97.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.18.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.87%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is 57.09%.

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.