Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $48.35 Million in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 498,232 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $48,353,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Bank of Montreal as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 80.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 125,572 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,344,000 after purchasing an additional 55,823 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 2,455 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 326,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,773,000 after acquiring an additional 5,821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BMO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 lowered Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $92.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $67.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $97.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.23. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $106.00. 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 (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.35%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.