Invesco Ltd. Purchases 288,529 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 35.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,094,053 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 288,529 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.15% of Bank of Montreal worth $106,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,208,431 shares of the bank's stock worth $505,643,000 after purchasing an additional 161,710 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 1,527.7% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,160,494 shares of the bank's stock valued at $112,626,000 after buying an additional 1,089,199 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 238,353 shares of the bank's stock valued at $23,116,000 after buying an additional 27,554 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 665.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 460,720 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,713,000 after acquiring an additional 400,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $4,309,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.39. The stock had a trading volume of 439,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 861,549. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $96.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts lowered Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, CIBC downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $128.40.

About Bank of Montreal

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.