BMO remains well capitalized

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL $124 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 713.0 million; Market cap: $88.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 4.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) completed its $13.8 billion U.S. acquisition of Bank of the West from France’s BNP Paribas in February 2023. That firm provides a variety of retail and commercial banking services to over 1.8 million customers through 514 branches in 24 U.S. states. Despite that purchase, Bank of Montreal remains well capitalized. As of October 31, 2023, its CET1 ratio was 12.5%. (CET1, or Common Equity Tier 1, measures a bank’s ability to keep extending credit to individuals and businesses.) That’s above the regulatory minimum of 11.5%. It also reduces the need to sell more shares, which would dilute the holdings of current shareholders. Bank of Montreal is a buy. buy. …