Topic: How To Invest

The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, December 16, 2022

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $120.63, Toronto symbol BMO, remains a buy. In December 2021, the bank agreed to acquire California-based Bank of the West from France’s BNP Paribas for $16.3 billion U.S. 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. To help finance the deal, Bank of Montreal sold 20.84 million common shares at $149.00 each for a total of $3.1 billion. This week, Canada’s banking regulator—the Office of the Superintendent for Financial Institutions (OSFI)—increased the amount of capital that lenders must hold. That will help them better absorb a potential rise in loan defaults caused by rising interest rates. As a result, Bank of Montreal now plans to sell up to 28.3 million common shares at $118.60 a share for a total of $3.35 billion…