Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 3.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 107,096 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,815 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $9,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 244.1% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 34.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Securities cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $94.63 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.27. The stock has a market cap of $69.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8.01 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, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

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.