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Topic: Dividend Stocks

BANK OF MONTREAL $81 – Toronto symbol BMO

BANK OF MONTREAL $81 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 645.2 million; Market cap: $52.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) is Canada’s fourth-largest bank, with $582.0 billion of assets.

In the quarter ended April 30, 2014, the bank’s earnings rose 12.1%, to $1.1 billion from $966 million a year ago. Per-share earnings rose 13.2%, to $1.63 from $1.44, on fewer shares outstanding.

Earnings from Canadian retail banking (42% of the total) rose 14.2%, as low interest rates spurred demand for mortgages and business loans. The U.S. retail banking division (14%) reported a 5.0% profit decline due to fewer gains on mortgage loan sales.

Meanwhile, the trading division (27%) saw its earnings rise 16.8% on higher volumes and more stock-underwriting deals. Wealth management earnings (17%) jumped 36.1%, as rising stock markets pushed up the value of the securities it manages.

Bank of Montreal’s loan-loss provisions rose 12.5%, to $162 million from $144 million, as the bank set aside more funds to cover potential losses on U.S. corporate loans. Revenue gained 9.0%, to $4.0 billion from $3.7 billion.

The strong results prompted Bank of Montreal to raise its quarterly dividend by 2.6%, to $0.78 a share from $0.76. The new annual rate of $3.12 yields 3.9%.

The stock trades at 12.4 times the bank’s projected fiscal 2014 earnings of $6.53 a share.

Bank of Montreal is a buy.

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