MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,702 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Scotiabank cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE BMO opened at $89.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.83. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $73.98 and a 12 month high of $100.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 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 paid a $1.123 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 76.25%.

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.