Bank of Nova Scotia Has $864.60 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 36.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,907,412 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,117,079 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal makes up approximately 1.6% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $864,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,014,633,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1,527.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,160,494 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $112,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,199 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,297,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $422,450,000 after purchasing an additional 975,777 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $760,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $88.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.27. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00. 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 (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released 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. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC lowered Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Cibc World Mkts downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.40.

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.