Oarsman Capital Inc. Decreases Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Oarsman Capital Inc. lowered its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $194,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 471.5% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 452,086 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,866,000 after purchasing an additional 372,977 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,963 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,297,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $422,450,000 after acquiring an additional 975,777 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 334,333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,416,000 after purchasing an additional 7,823 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $89.27 on Friday. 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 cap of $64.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.21. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Bank of Montreal’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on 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 cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.40.

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.