Northwest Bancshares Inc. Has $5.73 Million Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 13.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,493 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,480 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal accounts for 1.0% of Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $5,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the second quarter worth $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 244.1% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 34.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $94.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.30 and a 200-day moving average of $88.18. The company has a market cap of $68.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.123 per share. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

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.