Truist Financial Corp Grows Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 397.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 91,654 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 73,216 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $8,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMO. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,449,000 after buying an additional 3,074,389 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after buying an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $760,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after purchasing an additional 625,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,130,000 after purchasing an additional 307,466 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $100.53 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $104.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 63.18%.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.