Stephens Inc. AR Purchases Shares of 3,296 Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Stephens Inc. AR bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,296 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at $346,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 29,367 shares during the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $327,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 125,572 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,344,000 after acquiring an additional 55,823 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 72.9% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 588,209 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,082,000 after purchasing an additional 248,098 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO traded down $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $101.04. The stock had a trading volume of 284,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 581,249. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $104.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.58 and a 200 day moving average of $92.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.1329 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 63.32%.

Bank of Montreal 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.