PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 14,658 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 151.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,321 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,658 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $2,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 140.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 2.2 %

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 P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $99.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.80. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00. 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 (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.