Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Short Interest Update

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,560,000 shares, an increase of 120.6% from the March 31st total of 5,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 690,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 16.7 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,439,190,000 after buying an additional 105,475,200 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $812,644,000. FIL Ltd raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 138.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock worth $976,870,000 after buying an additional 5,729,145 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,911,635,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,783,968 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,247,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,298 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE BMO traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $90.90. 3,961,611 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 740,200. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $73.98 and a 1-year high of $100.12. The stock has a market cap of $66.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.16.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 7.40%. On average, analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1172 per share. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays started coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.00.

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.