BMO: Longest dividend streak in Canada

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL $99 (Toronto symbol BMO; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 647.7 million; Market cap: $64.1 billion; Dividend yield: 3.6%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.bmo.com) began operating in 1817, making it Canada’s oldest chartered bank. Right now, it’s the fourth-largest of the big five banks, with assets of $708.6 billion (as of July 31, 2017). Bank of Montreal currently provides a wide range of financial services to over 10 million customers from 900 branches in Canada and 600 in the U.S. Its Canadian retail banking operations supply 40% of its earnings, while the U.S. branches contribute 18%. The bank gets a further 23% of earnings from its capital markets division, which sells brokerage and securities-trading services. The remaining 19% comes from its wealth management business. 188 years of dependable dividends Bank of Montreal has paid dividends without interruption for 188 years. It last raised its quarterly dividend by 2.3% with the August 2017 payment. Investors now receive $0.90 a..