Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Romano Brothers AND Company

Romano Brothers AND Company lessened its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 51,533 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $4,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,795,402,000 after purchasing an additional 544,767 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,231,564,000 after acquiring an additional 692,049 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock worth $613,138,000 after purchasing an additional 463,924 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock worth $439,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.4% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $407,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,816,385 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $93.33 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.19. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $68.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on BMO shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

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.