The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $664.74 Million Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 42.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,838,171 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 2,044,862 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.94% of Bank of Montreal worth $664,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BMO. Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank's stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank's stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,049 shares of the bank's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BMO shares. Cibc World Mkts cut Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Finally, CIBC cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.62. 450,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 860,796. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $95.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.48. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The company has a market cap of $70.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.35%.

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.