You should expect a dividend hike soon

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL $126 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol BMO; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 647.3 million; Market cap: $81.6 billion; Dividend yield: 3.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.bmo.com) increased its quarterly dividend by 2.9% with the February 2020 payment. The new annual rate of $4.24 yields 3.4%. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s banking regulator ordered lenders to freeze their dividends and suspend share buybacks. However, the success of the vaccination rollout is letting more businesses re-open. That’s letting the bank cut its loan-loss provisions. Moreover, the bank’s CET1 capitalization ratio (Common Equity Tier 1) is now 13.0% compared to the minimum requirement of 10.5%. We expect the regulator will let all of Canada’s banks raise their dividends later this year. Bank of Montreal is a buy. buy…