Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Trims Position in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 3.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,767,972 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 204,686 shares during the period. Bank Of Montreal accounts for about 3.6% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s holdings in Bank Of Montreal were worth $637,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal in the second quarter worth approximately $1,184,220,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Bank Of Montreal by 213.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,259,505 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $406,825,000 after buying an additional 2,899,061 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 66.5% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,676,637 shares of the bank’s stock worth $351,154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,084 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 3.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,194,013 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,567,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,237 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 19.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,134 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,674,000 after acquiring an additional 939,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

BMO stock opened at $126.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $125.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.11. Bank Of Montreal has a 52-week low of $85.40 and a 52-week high of $131.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.95.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. This is a positive change from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BMO shares. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Bank Of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.00.

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.