Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Shares Sold by Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,387 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,375 shares during the period. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 760 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the first quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 27,713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 897,240 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,642,000 after purchasing an additional 48,585 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 1st quarter worth about $663,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 53.4% during the first quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 6,334 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Desjardins downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Barclays began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE BMO traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.31. 1,040,447 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 764,671. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.36 and its 200-day moving average is $92.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.10). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 billion. Analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.125 per share. This represents a $4.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.34%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.25%.

Bank of Montreal Company 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.