The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, August 26, 2011

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $59.24, Toronto symbol BMO, recently completed its purchase of U.S. banking firm Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $4.0 billion in stock. In addition, Bank of Montreal paid an additional $1.7 billion U.S. for all of the preferred shares and warrants that Marshall & Ilsley sold to the U.S. Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Adding Marshall & Ilsley more than doubled the number of branches that Bank of Montreal operates in the U.S., and added 2 million customers. The bank will also save over $300 million U.S. a year by combining these new operations with its existing U.S. banking business. Marshall & Ilsley is already adding to Bank of Montreal’s sales and earnings. That’s part of the reason why the bank’s earnings rose 24.4% in the three months ended July 31, 2011, to $843 million from $678 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 19.3%, to $1.36 from $1.14, due to more shares outstanding. These figures…