Bank Of Montreal $BMO Shares Acquired by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

Key Points

• BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 18.3% to 739,598 shares (~$82.0M), while other institutions including Norges Bank, Vanguard and CPP also added large positions, leaving institutional ownership at about 45.82%.
• Bank of Montreal beat quarterly estimates with EPS $2.36 (vs. $2.16) and revenue of $6.67B, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.67 (annualized $6.68) for a yield of about 5.1%.
• Analysts show mixed views: the consensus rating is "Hold" with a $163 consensus target, amid several recent upgrades and downgrades from major Canadian banks and research firms.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 739,598 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 114,458 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned about 0.10% of Bank Of Montreal worth $82,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bank Of Montreal during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,184,220,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 66.5% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,676,637 shares of the bank's stock worth $351,154,000 after buying an additional 1,469,084 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 3.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,194,013 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,567,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,237 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bank Of Montreal by 19.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,134 shares of the bank's stock valued at $655,674,000 after acquiring an additional 939,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Bank Of Montreal in the second quarter valued at approximately $79,126,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Bank Of Montreal from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $168.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Friday, December 5th. Natl Bk Canada lowered shares of Bank Of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:BMO opened at $131.65 on Friday. Bank Of Montreal has a 12-month low of $85.40 and a 12-month high of $132.96. The firm has a market cap of $93.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $125.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.17.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 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 Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. This is a boost from Bank Of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Bank Of Montreal's payout ratio is 58.58%.

Bank Of Montreal Company 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.

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