Zions Bancorporation N.A. Buys 59,200 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 33,446.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,377 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,200 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $5,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 140.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at $97.34 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $99.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.58.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.09%.

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.