Wealthspire Advisors LLC Acquires 125 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,355 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $617,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 207.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,903,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 141.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 50,682 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,578,000 after buying an additional 29,717 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 244.1% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 20,118 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 7,411 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $104.13 on Wednesday. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00. The company has a market cap of $75.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 1.43 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $98.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.68.

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

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.