Updating Bank of Montreal, Great-West Lifeco Inc., and Imperial Oil Ltd.

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL $104 (www.bmo.com) continues to remodel its physical branches as more of its customers switch to online banking. As part of that initiative, the bank has opened its first “Smart Branch” in Winnipeg. This facility is smaller than most regular branches, and contains several electronic features to speed up service. For example, staff will receive an instant message when a customer arrives for an appointment, including the specific reason. Buy. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $32 (www.greatestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest insurance company, after Manulife Financial. It earned $831 million, or $0.84 a share, in the second quarter of 2018. That’s up 16.7% from $712 million, or $0.72, a year earlier. That gain was partly due to a $60 million after-tax gain on changes to the U.S. tax code. Revenue fell 4.2%, to $10.6 billion from $9.7 billion, due to lower revenue from the insurer’s investment portfolio. Hold. IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $41 (www.imperialoil.ca) holds 25.0% of the Syncrude oil sands complex near Fort McMurray, Alberta. It also operates the facility. An…