Argent Trust Co Makes New Investment in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Argent Trust Co acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,792 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 3,493,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $338,437,000 after purchasing an additional 50,317 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $48,353,000. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $37,220,000. FIL Ltd increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 25.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,169,083 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $210,578,000 after acquiring an additional 445,303 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,094,053 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,178,000 after acquiring an additional 288,529 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 2.4 %

BMO stock opened at $91.11 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $66.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $97.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.18.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BMO. CIBC downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” 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 research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.