Lantz Financial LLC Takes Position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 3,020 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,321,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 51,629 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,488,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 137.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 415.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 28,567 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,395,000 after purchasing an additional 23,026 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.8 %

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $100.96 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $104.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.22.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a $1.1329 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 65.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.