DAVENPORT & Co LLC Makes New Investment in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,252 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMO. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,432 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 426,005 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,256,000 after buying an additional 22,030 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,293,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 145,939 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,199,000 after buying an additional 3,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $95.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $73.98 and a 1 year high of $100.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $94.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.39. The company has a market cap of $69.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.34). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1172 per share. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. This represents a $4.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 62.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BMO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.