Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Purchased by Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,007,767 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal accounts for approximately 3.4% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Bank of Montreal worth $181,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 6.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,478,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,651,736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,280 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 9.3% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,688,001 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,236,042,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,160 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 20.6% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 12,305,752 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,097,768,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,110 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.3% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 12,294,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,110,153,000 after acquiring an additional 278,859 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,544,892 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $864,767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,546 shares during the period. 43.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on BMO. StockNews.com began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Bank of Montreal from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.25.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMO traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $81.43. 146,724 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 610,767. The stock has a market cap of $58.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $73.98 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.64.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 29th. The bank reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 11.19%. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Investors of record on Monday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.11 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 27th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.09. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.35%.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers.