Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $9.88 Million Stock Position in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 10.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,873 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,082 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bank Of Montreal were worth $9,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank Of Montreal in the second quarter valued at about $1,184,220,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Bank Of Montreal by 2,986.1% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,170,118 shares of the bank’s stock worth $240,009,000 after buying an additional 2,099,800 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,194,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,567,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,237 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank Of Montreal by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,134 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,674,000 after buying an additional 939,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Bank Of Montreal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,126,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Bank Of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $168.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Natl Bk Canada downgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Bank Of Montreal in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $136.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $96.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $128.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.48. Bank Of Montreal has a twelve month low of $85.40 and a twelve month high of $137.16.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.20. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 11.13%.The company had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. This is a positive change from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.35%.

About Bank Of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.