Norges Bank Invests $1.01 Billion in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Norges Bank 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 Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,464,521 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,014,633,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.43% of Bank of Montreal as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 140.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BMO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $96.73. The company had a trading volume of 175,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,694. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.05. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

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.