Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 673,248 Shares of Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 33,017,205 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 673,248 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 4.67% of Bank Of Montreal worth $4,287,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Canerector Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 18,035.0% during the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 22,668,750 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,952,605,000 after acquiring an additional 22,543,750 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 10.3% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,079,026 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,486,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789,188 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 17.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,260,160 shares of the bank's stock valued at $949,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,546 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 4.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,525,666 shares of the bank's stock valued at $589,861,000 after acquiring an additional 176,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,967,220 shares of the bank's stock valued at $516,291,000 after acquiring an additional 101,739 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Bank Of Montreal Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $152.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $106.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank Of Montreal has a 1 year low of $93.77 and a 1 year high of $154.48. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $142.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.59.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 11.76%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank Of Montreal will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Bank Of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities raised Bank Of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research raised Bank Of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. National Bank Financial reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank Of Montreal currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $163.00.

About Bank Of Montreal

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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