Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 5,568 Shares of Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 35.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,268 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,568 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Bank Of Montreal were worth $2,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Code Waechter LLC boosted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 317 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 17,780 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 4.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,121 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 3.6% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research cut Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. National Bank Financial restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $164.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank Of Montreal has a twelve month low of $104.08 and a twelve month high of $165.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $150.86 and its 200-day moving average is $140.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.95.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. Bank Of Montreal’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank Of Montreal will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. This is an increase from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. Bank Of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 50.96%.

About Bank Of Montreal

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.