Scotia Capital Inc. Buys 50,317 Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)

Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,493,410 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 50,317 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal accounts for about 1.8% of Scotia Capital Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Scotia Capital Inc. owned about 0.48% of Bank of Montreal worth $338,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank's stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank's stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,049 shares of the bank's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

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Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $92.50. 208,228 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 860,813. The company's fifty day moving average price is $97.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. 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 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is 57.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CIBC lowered Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.