Wrapmanager Inc. Invests $224,000 in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Wrapmanager Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,310 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,449,000 after buying an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after buying an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at about $760,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after buying an additional 625,797 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,130,000 after buying an additional 307,466 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO stock opened at $104.13 on Wednesday. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $75.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1329 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

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.