Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $349,000 Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,601 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BMO. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 22,296 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,164,000 after buying an additional 2,322 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 8,970 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $871,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 291,338 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,269,000 after purchasing an additional 19,147 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 738,167 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,665,000 after purchasing an additional 166,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,270,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $97.60 on Wednesday. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $99.48 and its 200 day moving average is $95.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Bank of Montreal 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.