Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. Buys New Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 25,741 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,498,000. Bank of Montreal accounts for 1.0% of Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BMO. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 2,455 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. 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 worth $30,773,000 after buying an additional 5,821 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,327,465 shares of the bank's stock worth $300,137,000 after buying an additional 144,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $760,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.4%

Bank of Montreal stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $99.56. The company had a trading volume of 386,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,641. The stock has a market cap of $72.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $95.26 and a 200 day moving average of $96.70.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The company'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 fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BMO. 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 Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC cut Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal currently 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.