Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Makes New $574,000 Investment in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,238 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 6,300.1% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 479,492 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,233,000 after buying an additional 472,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,017,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,287,878,000 after acquiring an additional 673,248 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 165,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,484,000 after acquiring an additional 23,113 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Bank Of Montreal by 2,127.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 349,694 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,387,000 after acquiring an additional 333,994 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in Bank Of Montreal by 17.0% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 99,874 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,032,000 after acquiring an additional 14,494 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Stock Down 0.2%

Bank Of Montreal stock opened at $178.68 on Tuesday. Bank Of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $109.64 and a fifty-two week high of $180.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $165.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.07. The company has a market capitalization of $125.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.93.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.14. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 13.04% and a net margin of 12.60%.The company had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank Of Montreal will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.96%.

Bank Of Montreal Profile

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.