Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC Buys Shares of 2,075 Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,075 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 10.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,783,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,247,154,000 after buying an additional 1,417,298 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,495,589 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,435,002,000 after purchasing an additional 738,579 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.1% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 14,042,593 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,184,774,000 after purchasing an additional 679,340 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,191,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,294,121,000 after purchasing an additional 468,761 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,297,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $278,141,000 after purchasing an additional 301,391 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.00.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO traded up $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.65. The company had a trading volume of 502,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 741,169. The company has a market cap of $65.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.13. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $73.98 and a 52 week high of $100.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.98 and its 200 day moving average is $90.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 11.89%. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1172 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.79%.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.