UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Cuts Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd cut its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $1,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,634,988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $352,776,000 after acquiring an additional 307,523 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 478,191 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,399,000 after purchasing an additional 12,052 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 72.1% during the fourth quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 1,114,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $108,087,000 after purchasing an additional 466,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at $302,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $95.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” 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.