Short Interest in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Increases By 29.2%

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,520,000 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the December 31st total of 5,820,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 752,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake 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 buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 244.1% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 207.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $97.55. The company had a trading volume of 590,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,699. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company's 50-day moving average is $98.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.85. The company has a market cap of $71.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $104.63.

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 paid a $1.1329 dividend. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.00.

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.