Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Stock Position Decreased by Crescent Grove Advisors LLC

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 13.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,455 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 990 shares during the quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMO. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 38.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,069,787 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,318,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874,573 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the first quarter valued at $307,237,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 138.4% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $407,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,816,385 shares in the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock worth $439,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,532 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,848,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $668,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,281 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $91.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.83 and a 1 year high of $100.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.18 and a 200-day moving average of $88.03.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMO has been the topic of several research reports. TD Securities lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

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.