State of Wyoming Raises Holdings in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Key Points

• The State of Wyoming increased its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 237.4%, acquiring an additional 10,029 shares, bringing its total to 14,254 shares valued at $1,361,000.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs and Mackenzie Financial Corp, significantly increased their holdings in Bank Of Montreal, indicating strong institutional interest in the bank.
• Bank Of Montreal announced a quarterly dividend of $1.63, marking an increase from its previous dividend of $1.18, representing an annualized yield of 5.5%.

State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 237.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,254 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 10,029 shares during the period. State of Wyoming's holdings in Bank Of Montreal were worth $1,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,422 shares of the bank's stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 2.6% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,717 shares of the bank's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 1.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 8,146 shares of the bank's stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 228.9% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 273 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 5.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,797 shares of the bank's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. CIBC reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank Of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bank Of Montreal from $161.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Bank Of Montreal from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.00.

Bank Of Montreal Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Bank Of Montreal stock traded up $0.99 on Wednesday, reaching $122.67. The stock had a trading volume of 239,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,300. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank Of Montreal has a 1 year low of $81.69 and a 1 year high of $123.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. This is a boost from Bank Of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 30th. Bank Of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 58.63%.

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.