First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $759,000 Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,670 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,306 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 3.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 221,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,806,000 after purchasing an additional 7,980 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,757,010 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,102,086,000 after buying an additional 69,009 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,527 shares of the bank’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 299,289 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,384,000 after buying an additional 69,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $91.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $66.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.14. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $73.98 and a 12-month high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $1.1172 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.79%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.