U.S. gains fuel BMO dividend hike

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL $91 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 639.3 million; Market cap: $58.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 4.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) earned $1.53 billion in the quarter ended October 31, 2018. That’s up 16.8% from $1.31 billion a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose at a faster rate of 19.6%, to $2.32 from $1.94. Earnings from Canadian retail banking (43% of the total) rose 8.2% due to higher interest rates and loan balances. U.S. retail banking (24%) saw its profits jump 36.3%, partly because recent U.S. tax reforms added $29 million to the unit’s profits of $383 million. Earnings for the bank’s wealth management business (14%) gained 21.2%, as improving stock markets (during the quarter) increased the value of its assets under management. However, earnings for the capital markets operations (19%) slipped 2.2% on higher operating expenses. The bank’s overall revenue rose 4.7%, to $5.92 billion from $5.66…