Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, December 9, 2016

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $96.20, Toronto Symbol BMO, will increase its quarterly dividend by 2.3% with the February 2017 payment, to $0.88 a share from $0.86. The new annual rate is $3.52 and yields 3.7%. The bank recently closed some branches and upgraded its Internet and mobile banking operations. Thanks partly to savings from those initiatives, Bank of Montreal’s earnings in the quarter ended October 31, 2016, rose 10.4%, to $1.4 billion, or $2.10 a share. A year earlier, it earned $1.3 billion, or $1.90. Earnings from Canadian retail banking (39% of the total) rose 5.3%, as loan demand from consumers and businesses remained strong. U.S. retail banking (15%) saw its profits jump 34.5%. That was due to Bank of Montreal’s recent acquisition of General Electric’s transportation-financing operation. That business lends money to commercial truck and trailer manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada. It also offers loans to dealers and buyers. Overall, Bank of Montreal’s loan-loss provisions jumped 35.9% in the quarter, to $174…