Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, December 6, 2019

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $100.12, Toronto symbol BMO, is a buy. The bank now plans to raise its quarterly dividend by 2.9%. Starting with the February 2020 payment, investors will receive $1.06 a share, up from $1.03. The new annual rate of $4.24 yields a high 4.2%. For its latest quarter, the bank reported better-than-expected earnings, as gains at its retail banking and wealth management operations offset weaker results from its capital markets division. In its fiscal 2019 fourth quarter, ended October 31, 2019, Bank of Montreal earned $1.61 billion. That’s up 5.0% from $1.53 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 4.7%, to $2.43 from $2.32. The latest results exclude unusual items. Among them are restructuring costs related to the bank’s plan to improve its efficiency by cutting jobs and expanding its online and mobile banking platforms. On that basis, the earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.40 a share. Earnings from Canadian retail banking (45% of the total) rose 6.1%, while profits at…