Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. Makes New Investment in Bank Of Montreal $BMO

Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 90,548 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $11,794,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Bank Of Montreal in the third quarter valued at $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC now owns 400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 107.7% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 407 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMO has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. TD Securities upgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.00.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $142.36 on Wednesday. Bank Of Montreal has a twelve month low of $85.40 and a twelve month high of $147.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $100.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.75.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.20. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.68%.

Bank Of Montreal Profile

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.