First Bank & Trust Makes New Investment in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

First Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 11,598 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,126,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 54.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 34,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,088,000 after acquiring an additional 4,918 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 207.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 3.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $802,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 3.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,094 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BMO opened at $101.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.59 and a 200 day moving average of $93.01.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 63.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.00.

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.