Short Interest in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Increases By 102.8%

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) saw a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,660,000 shares, a growth of 102.8% from the June 30th total of 4,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 923,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.4 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,439,190,000 after purchasing an additional 105,475,200 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $812,644,000. FIL Ltd raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 138.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock worth $976,870,000 after buying an additional 5,729,145 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 38.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,069,787 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,318,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874,573 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,911,635,000 after buying an additional 3,187,998 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Desjardins downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BMO traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $87.33. 3,920,166 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 818,631. The company has a fifty day moving average of $86.89 and a 200 day moving average of $91.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $73.98 and a twelve month high of $100.12. The company has a market capitalization of $63.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.96 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 11.60%. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 74.25%.

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.