Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 4,238 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,017,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,287,878,000 after buying an additional 673,248 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Bank Of Montreal by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,372,601 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,519,180,000 after buying an additional 293,575 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,445,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,226,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $1,059,320,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,030,219 shares of the bank’s stock worth $932,242,000 after acquiring an additional 442,812 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BMO. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Desjardins reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $178.68 on Tuesday. Bank Of Montreal has a 52 week low of $109.64 and a 52 week high of $180.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $165.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.07. The company has a market cap of $125.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $7.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.98 billion. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 13.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Bank Of Montreal will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Bank Of Montreal’s payout ratio is 50.96%.

Bank Of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.