CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 21,661 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co trimmed its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 390,695 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 21,661 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.05% of Bank of Montreal worth $38,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,161 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,739 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,622 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 28.0% in the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 635 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BMO. Desjardins lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO traded up $0.85 during trading on Thursday, hitting $87.10. 256,194 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 787,120. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.19 and a 200-day moving average of $91.61. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $73.98 and a 12-month high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released 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 business had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.96 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be given a $1.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio 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.