Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, September 6, 2019

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $92.23, Toronto symbol BMO, last raised its quarterly dividend with the August 2019 payment. Investors now receive $1.03 a share, up 3.0% from $1.00. The new annual rate of $4.12 yields a high 4.5%. For its latest quarter, the bank reported lower-than-expected earnings due to weaker results at its capital markets division. In its fiscal 2019 third quarter, ended July 31, 2019, Bank of Montreal earned $1.58 billion. That’s up 1.0% from $1.57 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 0.8%, to $2.38 from $2.36. The latest results exclude unusual items. Among them are the costs to integrate a recent acquisition. On that basis, the earnings missed the consensus estimate of $2.49 a share. Earnings from Canadian retail banking (40% of the total) rose 1.2%, while profits at the U.S. retail banking operations (24%) gained 0.8%. In both cases, higher interest rates and loan balances were offset by rising non-interest expenses and higher credit provisions. Profits for the bank’s capital markets…