Natixis Buys 4,930 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Natixis increased its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2,440.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,132 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,930 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 503,614 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 5,393 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,604,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $349,778,000 after buying an additional 46,056 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,958 shares of the bank’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 2,481 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2,038.9% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, CIBC downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $95.43 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.30. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00. The firm has a market cap of $69.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. On average, equities 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 $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.35%.

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.