Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Acquires New Stake in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired 2,504 shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), worth approximately $239,000, in its recent SEC filing.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63 per share, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 5.2%, up from a previous $1.18.
• Bank of Montreal's stock has a current market capitalization of $90.33 billion and reported an EPS of $2.33 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst predictions.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,504 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 213.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,259,505 shares of the bank's stock valued at $406,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899,061 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,184,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,962 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 66.5% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,676,637 shares of the bank's stock worth $351,154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,084 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 12,833,065 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,244,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,712 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Bank Of Montreal during the 1st quarter worth $52,070,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BMO. CIBC raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays lowered shares of Bank Of Montreal from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Bank Of Montreal from $161.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $168.00.

Bank Of Montreal Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BMO traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $126.36. 320,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 663,061. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.83. The company has a market capitalization of $90.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.04. Bank Of Montreal has a 12 month low of $85.20 and a 12 month high of $127.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.84 billion. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 30th will be given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. This is an increase from Bank Of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Bank Of Montreal's payout ratio is presently 58.63%.

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.