Davis Rea LTD. Sells 2,235 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Davis Rea LTD. decreased its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,925 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,235 shares during the period. Davis Rea LTD.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 244.1% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 34.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 207.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BMO shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Securities cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at $91.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $74.48 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.08. The company has a market cap of $66.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $1.123 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.