Townsend & Associates Inc Takes Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Townsend & Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,225 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,022 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 1st quarter valued at about $282,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 22,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 65.8% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,009 shares of the bank’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 8.5% in the first quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 12,338 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE BMO opened at $92.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.83 and a one year high of $100.12. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $89.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.123 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.13%.

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.