Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Raises Stock Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,987 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $9,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $97.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $70.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. 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 $106.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $99.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.80.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 57.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BMO. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

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.