Legal & General Group Plc Invests $744.21 Million in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Key Points

• Legal & General Group acquired 4.21 million Bank of Montreal shares worth approximately $744.2 million, representing about 0.60% of the bank. Institutional investors collectively own 45.82% of BMO.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: five analysts rate BMO a Buy, eight rate it Hold, and one rates it Sell, producing an overall “Hold” consensus with a $163 price target.
• BMO exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.68 in EPS and $7.04 billion in revenue, while raising its quarterly dividend to $1.71, implying a 4.0% annualized yield.

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,212,134 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $744,214,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.60% of Bank Of Montreal as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank Of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $1,059,320,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the second quarter valued at $920,002,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the second quarter valued at $677,074,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal in the 2nd quarter worth about $416,645,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,817,406 shares of the bank's stock worth $495,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BMO. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bank Of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Bank Of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank Of Montreal presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

BMO opened at $172.22 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $177.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.94. Bank Of Montreal has a 52-week low of $113.60 and a 52-week high of $187.22.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.14. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 13.04%. The firm had revenue of $7.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Bank Of Montreal will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Bank Of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Bank Of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 51.06%.

Bank Of Montreal Profile

Bank of Montreal NYSE: BMO, commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada's largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO's core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.

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