Fiera Capital Corp Acquires 50,287 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,453,718 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,287 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $312,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BMO. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 29,367 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,411,695 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,371,000 after acquiring an additional 14,809 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,795,402,000 after acquiring an additional 544,767 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 72.9% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 588,209 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,082,000 after acquiring an additional 248,098 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,997,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.7 %

Bank of Montreal stock traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $92.61. The stock had a trading volume of 124,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 899,998. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.83 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The company has a market cap of $67.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. Bank of Montreal’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a $1.123 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.85%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BMO shares. Scotiabank cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

About Bank of Montreal

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.