Natixis Acquires 4,930 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Natixis boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 2,440.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,132 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 4,930 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank's stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 2,455 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 326,510 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,773,000 after acquiring an additional 5,821 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,327,465 shares of the bank's stock worth $300,137,000 after acquiring an additional 144,252 shares during the period. Finally, Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.57. 634,603 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 862,081. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.42. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.64%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is 57.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Cibc World Mkts lowered Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC lowered Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.