Bank Of Montreal $BMO Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,062 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,511 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bank Of Montreal were worth $10,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank Of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at $1,059,320,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,817,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $495,461,000 after buying an additional 1,628,318 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 155.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,127,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $277,091,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,169 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,445,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,226,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,500 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth about $129,909,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank Of Montreal Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of BMO stock opened at $180.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank Of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $109.64 and a fifty-two week high of $181.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.42. The stock has a market cap of $126.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.93.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.14. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 13.04%. The company had revenue of $7.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank Of Montreal will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a positive change from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Desjardins reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.