HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 2,322 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,296 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,322 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,397,000 after purchasing an additional 625,797 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,793,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $432,823,000 after purchasing an additional 114,909 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,701,814 shares of the bank’s stock worth $358,991,000 after purchasing an additional 248,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.2 %

BMO opened at $96.70 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00. 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 cap of $70.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $99.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.40.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.