Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Has $642.02 Million Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,616,614 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 704,197 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal accounts for approximately 3.5% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $642,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $95.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.80.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded 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 upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

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.