Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 3,496 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,232 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,496 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $13,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $823,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Murchinson Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter worth about $244,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the third quarter valued at approximately $357,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.2% during the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 115,865 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,456,000 after purchasing an additional 5,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 272,191 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $133.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Friday, December 6th. 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. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $100.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.41. The company has a market cap of $73.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 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 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.1329 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.