UBS Group AG Sells 4,649 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

UBS Group AG trimmed its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO – Get Rating) (TSE:BMO) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 193,014 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,649 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $17,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 193.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 443 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 292.0% during the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 64.2% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 42.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.70.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $87.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $88.37 and its 200 day moving average is $93.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $62.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.14. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $81.57 and a one year high of $110.67.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO – Get Rating) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The bank reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.06. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 22.13%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 9.83 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be paid a $1.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 27th. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 34.50%.

About Bank of Montreal

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Bank of Montreal engages in the provision of banking and financial services to individuals and institutions. It operates through the following segments: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking (Canadian P&C) and United States Personal and Commercial Banking (U.S. P&C). The Canadian P&C segment refers to retail banking and financial operations in Canada.