Voya Investment Management LLC Decreases Position in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,450 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,738 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bank Of Montreal were worth $2,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BMO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,184,220,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 2,986.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,170,118 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $240,009,000 after purchasing an additional 2,099,800 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,194,013 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,567,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,134 shares of the bank’s stock worth $655,674,000 after purchasing an additional 939,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the second quarter worth $79,126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BMO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Bank Of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, CIBC raised Bank Of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Stock Performance

Bank Of Montreal stock opened at $130.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.85. The stock has a market cap of $92.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Bank Of Montreal has a 1-year low of $85.40 and a 1-year high of $132.96.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 11.13%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. This is a boost from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.58%.

About Bank Of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.