Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Boosts Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 2,701.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,454 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 29,367 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC's holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,795,402,000 after acquiring an additional 544,767 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,231,564,000 after purchasing an additional 692,049 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank's stock worth $613,138,000 after purchasing an additional 463,924 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank's stock valued at $439,705,000 after buying an additional 1,412,532 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 138.4% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank's stock worth $407,282,000 after buying an additional 2,816,385 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $92.77. 868,526 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 886,007. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $73.98 and a 1 year high of $100.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.123 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Bank of Montreal from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America lowered Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $119.75.

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.