WoodTrust Financial Corp Buys 568 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,713 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,073,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,777,561,000 after purchasing an additional 881,992 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,226,000 after buying an additional 13,718 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 463,792 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,888,000 after acquiring an additional 14,735 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 4,535 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 486,421 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,219,000 after buying an additional 77,285 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BMO shares. Barclays began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Desjardins cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BMO traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $83.85. 1,258,951 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 658,217. The firm has a market cap of $61.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.94. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.96 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 11.60%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a $1.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.25%.

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.