Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Acquired by Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,616,614 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 704,197 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal makes up approximately 3.5% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. owned about 0.91% of Bank of Montreal worth $642,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 77.0% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,443 shares of the bank’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 3,672 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 380,900 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,959,000 after purchasing an additional 61,076 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at $1,014,633,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,634,988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $352,776,000 after buying an additional 307,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 478,191 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,399,000 after buying an additional 12,052 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of BMO opened at $95.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $99.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.80. 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 has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $106.00.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

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.