Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,200 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canoe Financial LP grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,439,190,000 after buying an additional 105,475,200 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,073,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,777,561,000 after purchasing an additional 881,992 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,911,635,000 after buying an additional 3,187,998 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,495,589 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,435,002,000 after buying an additional 738,579 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $976,870,000 after buying an additional 5,729,145 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Desjardins cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BMO traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.40. 73,910 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 755,291. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $73.98 and a twelve month high of $100.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $88.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.76. The stock has a market cap of $61.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $1.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.33%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.