DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 7,516 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 144,747 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,516 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $12,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 244.1% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 34.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BMO. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $93.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.05. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $74.48 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.