Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Bought by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 29.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 162,503 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,931 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $15,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at $357,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 146,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,190,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $87.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $63.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.19. 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 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BMO. CIBC lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.40.

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.