Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Bought by Gold Investment Management Ltd.

Gold Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,148 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,903,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 36,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,511,000 after buying an additional 5,185 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 797,460 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,408,000 after buying an additional 209,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Financial Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 1,027,872 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,763,000 after acquiring an additional 23,681 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $97.00 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.97. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $70.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

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.