TIAA Trust National Association Buys Shares of 8,032 Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,032 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $780,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $97.07 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $70.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $99.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.72. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

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.