Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes $25.20 Million Position in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co. acquired 142,629 Bank of Montreal shares worth approximately $25.2 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 45.82% of BMO’s outstanding stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: five analysts rate BMO a Buy, eight a Hold and one a Sell, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $163.
• BMO exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.68 in EPS and $7.04 billion in revenue, while increasing its quarterly dividend to $1.71 per share—an annualized yield of about 3.9%.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 142,629 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $25,200,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank Of Montreal by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,017,205 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,287,878,000 after buying an additional 673,248 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,372,601 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,519,180,000 after acquiring an additional 293,575 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,445,162 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,226,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $1,059,320,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,030,219 shares of the bank's stock worth $932,242,000 after acquiring an additional 442,812 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BMO. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Friday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered Bank Of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on Bank Of Montreal in a report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank Of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $174.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $121.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.94. The company's fifty day moving average is $177.66 and its 200-day moving average is $158.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank Of Montreal has a 12 month low of $112.58 and a 12 month high of $187.22.

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

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Bank Of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Bank Of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 51.06%.

Bank Of Montreal Company 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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