West Family Investments Inc. Invests $214,000 in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,374 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 244.1% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 34.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE BMO opened at $94.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.18. The stock has a market cap of $68.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its 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). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Bank of Montreal’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.123 per share. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Bank of Montreal 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.