Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Cuts Position in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lessened its holdings in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,267,462 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,172 shares during the period. Bank Of Montreal makes up approximately 0.7% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.46% of Bank Of Montreal worth $424,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BMO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,017,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,287,878,000 after purchasing an additional 673,248 shares during the last quarter. Canerector Inc. increased its position in Bank Of Montreal by 18,035.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 22,668,750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,952,605,000 after buying an additional 22,543,750 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,372,601 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,519,180,000 after buying an additional 293,575 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at $1,059,320,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,030,219 shares of the bank’s stock worth $932,242,000 after acquiring an additional 442,812 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank Of Montreal Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of BMO stock opened at $168.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank Of Montreal has a 1 year low of $104.08 and a 1 year high of $169.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.95.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.14. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 13.04%. The business had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank Of Montreal will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. This is a positive change from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. Bank Of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 50.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Company Profile

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.