Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,363 Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,363 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,641 shares of the bank’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 12,007 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 3,769 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,745 shares of the bank’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth about $48,353,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BMO shares. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at $98.58 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $99.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.60. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The company has a market capitalization of $71.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.09%.

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.