Short Interest in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Decreases By 5.2%

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,820,000 shares, a drop of 5.2% from the December 15th total of 6,140,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 825,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.2 %

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $98.99 on Tuesday. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $104.63. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.76.

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 $1.1329 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.58%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 65.62%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMO. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 244.1% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.