Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Short Interest Update

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,070,000 shares, a growth of 10.0% from the November 15th total of 5,520,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 949,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 29,367 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.1% during the second quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,411,695 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,371,000 after purchasing an additional 14,809 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 72.9% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 588,209 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,082,000 after purchasing an additional 248,098 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,403,431 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,789,000 after purchasing an additional 69,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,298,627 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,326,000 after purchasing an additional 60,155 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BMO stock traded down $0.28 on Friday, hitting $99.02. 401,132 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 890,818. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.24 and a 200 day moving average of $88.58. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $104.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BMO. Barclays lowered their price target on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Securities lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $133.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.40.

About Bank of Montreal

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.