Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Grows Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,641 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMO. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 140.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at $98.58 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $99.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.60. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The company has a market cap of $71.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its 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. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.