NorthRock Partners LLC Takes Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 17,941 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,741,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 140.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO stock opened at $102.14 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, CIBC lowered Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.40.

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.