Korea Investment CORP Grows Stock Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 478,191 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,052 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $46,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 140.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at $97.07 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $99.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.72. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00. The company has a market cap of $70.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

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.