Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,200 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BMO. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,439,190,000 after purchasing an additional 105,475,200 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at $812,644,000. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $976,870,000 after purchasing an additional 5,729,145 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,911,635,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $95,299,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 73,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,291. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $73.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.76. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 11.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.125 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $4.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.33%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 74.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Desjardins downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.50.

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.