Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 35,614 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 23.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,255 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,614 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $17,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. REDW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 44.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 29,367 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 58.3% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 20,118 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 7,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 244.1% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 1.4 %

BMO stock opened at $91.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $66.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.03. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.83 and a one year high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.123 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lowered their target price 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 research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

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.