Mather Group LLC. Buys New Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,055 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $104,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,439,190,000 after buying an additional 105,475,200 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $812,644,000. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 138.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $976,870,000 after buying an additional 5,729,145 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,911,635,000 after buying an additional 3,187,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 10.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,783,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,247,154,000 after buying an additional 1,417,298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at $83.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $61.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.01. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $73.98 and a 1-year high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.125 per share. This represents a $4.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.37%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 3rd. Desjardins lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.50.

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.