Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 1,089,199 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 1,527.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,160,494 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,089,199 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $112,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 140.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, CIBC lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $89.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $98.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.21. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during 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%. Bank of Montreal’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

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.