BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $43.97 Million Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 85.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 453,454 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,716,154 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned 0.06% of Bank of Montreal worth $43,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $434,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,020 shares of the bank's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 680 shares of the bank's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on BMO. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "sector perform" rating for the company. CIBC downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" 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 World Mkts downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $103.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.