Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 72,283 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,767 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $6,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock worth $976,870,000 after acquiring an additional 5,729,145 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,069,787 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,318,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874,573 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,911,635,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187,998 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the first quarter worth $307,237,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 19.7% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,848,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $668,951,000 after buying an additional 1,128,281 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO stock opened at $86.87 on Thursday. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $63.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $84.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.84.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Securities cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Desjardins downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

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.