Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Short Interest Update

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,820,000 shares, a drop of 5.2% from the December 31st total of 6,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 825,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO traded down $1.44 during trading on Monday, reaching $97.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,318,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,864. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $104.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.77.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.64%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 63.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BMO. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,458,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,220 shares of the bank’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 11.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,969 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 0.3% in the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 760,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 13.5% in the third quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 10,463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.