Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Short Interest Update

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,820,000 shares, an increase of 205.9% from the September 30th total of 3,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.0 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE BMO opened at $92.78 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. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $73.98 and a 12 month high of $100.12. The company has a market capitalization of $67.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.22.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Securities lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 29,367 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 20,118 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 7,411 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 244.1% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 20.0% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 181,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,405,000 after buying an additional 30,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 37.4% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.