Raymond James & Associates Sells 1,687 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Raymond James & Associates decreased its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO – Get Rating) (TSE:BMO) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,767 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,687 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $6,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FORA Capital LLC increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 9,858 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tradewinds LLC. bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $484,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,682 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 6,173 shares of the bank’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.78% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $87.36 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.37. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $81.57 and a 12 month high of $110.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO – Get Rating) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The bank reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 22.13%. Analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th will be issued a $1.075 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 27th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.70.

Bank of Montreal Profile

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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.