Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, January 7, 2022

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $143.11, Toronto symbol BMO, remains a buy. Canada’s banking regulator—the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OFSI)—recently lifted the restrictions on capital distributions it placed on banks and insurers in March 2020 due to COVID-19 uncertainty. As a result, Bank of Montreal is raising your dividend by 25.5%. Starting with the February 2022 payment, investors will receive $1.33 a share instead of $1.06. The new annual rate of $5.32 yields 3.7%. As well, the bank is now buying California-based Bank of the West from France’s BNP Paribas. Bank of the West provides a variety of retail and commercial banking services to over 1.8 million customers. through 514 branches in 24 states, mainly in the Western and Midwestern regions of the U.S. It has assets of $105 billion U.S. and customer deposits totalling $89 billion U.S. The new operations complement Bank of Montreal’s current U.S. banking operations—BMO Harris Bank—which mainly operate in Chicago and the U.S. Midwest. In the most recent quarter,…