Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, December 7, 2018

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $92.71, Toronto symbol BMO,will raise its quarterly dividend by 4.2% starting with the February 2019 payment. Investors will then receive $1.00 a share, up from $0.96. The new annual rate of $4.00 yields a high 4.3%. The bank also reported better-than-expected earnings this week thanks to higher interest rates and loan demand at its Canadian and U.S. operations. In its fiscal 2018 fourth quarter ended October 31, 2018, Bank of Montreal earned $1.53 billion. That’s up 16.8% from $1.31 billion a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose at a faster rate of 19.6%, to $2.32 from $1.94. The latest results exclude unusual items, mainly a gain related to changes at its employee benefit plan. On that basis, the earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.31 a share. Earnings from Canadian retail banking (43% of the total) rose 8.2% due to higher interest rates and loan balances. U.S. retail banking (24%) saw its profits jump 36.3%, partly…