Plato Investment Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 880 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BMO. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 28.3% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,101 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 746,613 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,309,000 after purchasing an additional 37,846 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new stake in Bank Of Montreal during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 0.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 464,123 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,328,000 after purchasing an additional 3,403 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $124.81 on Tuesday. Bank Of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $85.40 and a fifty-two week high of $131.36. The stock has a market cap of $88.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.13.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.21. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.00%.The company had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. This is an increase from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Bank Of Montreal’s payout ratio is 58.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BMO shares. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.00.

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.