Van ECK Associates Corp Has $18.94 Million Stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,213 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $18,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMO. Toronto Dominion Bank raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,793,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $432,823,000 after acquiring an additional 114,909 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,453,718 shares of the bank’s stock worth $312,054,000 after acquiring an additional 50,287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BMO. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.6 %

BMO opened at $101.08 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.55. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The stock has a market cap of $73.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $1.1329 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.32%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.