Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 41.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,416 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,683 shares during the quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.1% in the second quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,411,695 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,371,000 after buying an additional 14,809 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,795,402,000 after purchasing an additional 544,767 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the first quarter valued at $3,997,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.9% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 4,535 shares of the bank’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,403,431 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,789,000 after buying an additional 69,111 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $94.06 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $73.98 and a 1-year high of $100.12. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $87.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal 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.