UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Sells 3,500 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $760,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,494,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,960,491,000 after buying an additional 576,744 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,353,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,615,141 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,709,215,000 after acquiring an additional 486,984 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.8 %

BMO opened at $95.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $99.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.97. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00. The stock has a market cap of $69.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BMO shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal 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.