Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO was the target of a large decline in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, a decline of 52.3% from the April 30th total of 11,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 719,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.6 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 708,767 shares of the bank's stock valued at $68,786,000 after purchasing an additional 40,135 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 194,218 shares of the bank's stock worth $18,855,000 after acquiring an additional 14,351 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,913,716 shares of the bank's stock valued at $185,694,000 after acquiring an additional 64,799 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the bank's stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $380,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of BMO traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 461,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 836,602. The company has a market cap of $77.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $97.18 and a 200 day moving average of $97.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $108.38.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.79 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1801 per share. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.75%.

Several research firms recently commented on BMO. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "sector perform" rating for the company. Cibc World Mkts lowered Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, CIBC reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.40.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on BMO

(Get Free Report)

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.

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