Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. 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 disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 498,232 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $48,353,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.07% of Bank of Montreal at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. 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 period. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.40.

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Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $95.39 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $99.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is presently 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.

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