Entropy Technologies LP Invests $2.69 Million in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 29,774 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,686,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,795,402,000 after purchasing an additional 544,767 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.9% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,231,564,000 after buying an additional 692,049 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $613,138,000 after acquiring an additional 463,924 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412,532 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 138.4% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $407,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,816,385 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on BMO shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Securities lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 1.3 %

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $94.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.03. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.77%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

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.