Romano Brothers AND Company Sells 1,413 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Romano Brothers AND Company lessened its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,633 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,413 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $5,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,073,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,777,561,000 after acquiring an additional 881,992 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after buying an additional 13,718 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 463,792 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,888,000 after buying an additional 14,735 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.9% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 4,535 shares of the bank’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 486,421 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,219,000 after acquiring an additional 77,285 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Desjardins cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,258,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 658,217. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.97. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $73.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 11.60%. Analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $1.125 per share. This represents a $4.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 74.25%.

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.