Investment Management Corp of Ontario Acquires 61,662 Shares of Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 49.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,538 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 61,662 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Bank Of Montreal were worth $24,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BMO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,017,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,287,878,000 after purchasing an additional 673,248 shares in the last quarter. Canerector Inc. raised its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 18,035.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 22,668,750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,952,605,000 after purchasing an additional 22,543,750 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,372,601 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,519,180,000 after purchasing an additional 293,575 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,445,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,226,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank Of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,059,320,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. National Bank Financial reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank Of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of Bank Of Montreal stock opened at $169.82 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.95. Bank Of Montreal has a 12 month low of $104.08 and a 12 month high of $171.69.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.14. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 13.04% and a net margin of 12.60%.The firm had revenue of $7.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Bank Of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank Of Montreal will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.96%.

Bank Of Montreal Profile

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.