US Bancorp DE Buys 6,194 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 32.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,257 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,194 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 140.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $98.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.40. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.09%.

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.