Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Stake Increased by Boltwood Capital Management

Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,300 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMO. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.8% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock worth $613,138,000 after purchasing an additional 463,924 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,532 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,397,000 after acquiring an additional 625,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 138.4% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $407,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,816,385 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $133.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMO traded up $0.72 during trading on Monday, hitting $96.78. 129,307 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,333. The company has a market capitalization of $70.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.78.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.1329 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 67.34%.

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.