Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Stock Position Increased by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 231,195 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 84,963 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $22,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. CIBC downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $94.60. 86,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,001. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $106.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.43. The stock has a market cap of $68.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced 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. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.35%.

Bank of Montreal 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.