Firestone Capital Management Takes Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Firestone Capital Management acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,100 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Certuity LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $381,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 108,370 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,844,000 after buying an additional 9,501 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 726,141 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,852,000 after acquiring an additional 82,900 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 117.5% during the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO traded down $0.91 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.32. 986,848 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 742,286. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.13. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $73.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by ($0.34). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1172 per share. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.79%.

Bank of Montreal 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.