Big acquisition will spur BMO

Article Excerpt

Bank of Montreal, along with other bank stocks, has suffered in the past year as investors worried rising interest rates would hurt borrowing demand and spur a wave of loan writedowns. However, banking regulators have toughened lending standards and mortgage stress-test levels in prior years. That has helped to minimize loan losses. The bank also recently completed a major acquisition in the U.S. While big acquisitions add risk, the new operations should lift Bank of Montreal’s earnings over the next few years. That will give it more room to increase your dividends. BANK OF MONTREAL $127 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol BMO; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 720.9 million; Market cap: $91.6 billion; Dividend yield: 4.8%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.bmo.com) raises your quarterly dividend with the January 2024 payment by 2.7%, to $1.51 a share from $1.47. The new annual rate of $6.04 yields a high 4.8%. Bank of Montreal’s revenue rose 51.0%, from $22.77 billion in 2019 to $34.39 billion…