Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Sells 1,506 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,949 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,506 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $435,000. Lantz Financial LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $293,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $191,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,840 shares of the bank’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $1,071,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $100.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $73.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.40 and its 200 day moving average is $91.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $1.1329 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 65.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BMO. Scotiabank upgraded shares of 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 raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

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.