Intact Investment Management Inc. Sells 445,400 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Intact Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 56.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 340,111 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 445,400 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal makes up 1.1% of Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $28,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,439,190,000 after buying an additional 105,475,200 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,795,402,000 after acquiring an additional 544,767 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,911,635,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187,998 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 38.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,069,787 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,318,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874,573 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $976,870,000 after purchasing an additional 5,729,145 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $83.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.68 and its 200 day moving average is $89.63. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $73.98 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 11.60%. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.123 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on BMO shares. Scotiabank cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their target price on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Desjardins downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

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.