Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Short Interest Update

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,070,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the November 15th total of 5,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 949,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.4 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 326,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,773,000 after purchasing an additional 5,821 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after buying an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $303,130,000 after purchasing an additional 307,466 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on BMO shares. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Eight 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $99.02. The stock had a trading volume of 401,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 890,818. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 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 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.1329 dividend. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.34%.

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.