Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 14,563 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 227,694 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,563 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $22,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 486,421 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,219,000 after purchasing an additional 77,285 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.2% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 171,717 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,488,000 after buying an additional 6,901 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the bank’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 848,655 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,966,000 after acquiring an additional 104,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at $89.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.13. 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 52 week low of $73.98 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.39.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 7.40%. On average, 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1172 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $4.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.79%.

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.