AGF Management Ltd. Trims Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

AGF Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 38.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 980,773 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 614,936 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Bank of Montreal worth $95,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $97.70 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $71.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average is $99.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.67. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

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.