Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Invests $936,000 in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,640 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during 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 last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during 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. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 140.9% during 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 last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 680 shares of the bank's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE BMO traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.58. The company had a trading volume of 414,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,253. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.54. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $71.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BMO. 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. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.40.

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.