Hills Bank & Trust Co Acquires New Position in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Hills Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the bank’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC increased its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 8,146 shares of the bank’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 23,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,654,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Bank Of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $163.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

Bank Of Montreal stock opened at $124.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $126.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.76. Bank Of Montreal has a 1 year low of $85.40 and a 1 year high of $131.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.21. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 30th will be paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. This is an increase from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 58.02%.

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.