Tag Archives: TSX:BNS

Why Scotiabank May Not Be As Great As You Think

Summary
  • Bank of Nova Scotia is Canada’s most international bank with a focus on the Pacific Alliance countries.
  • In the past 10 years, the bank’s earnings-per-share growth versus its share count growth was pretty poor compared to its peers.
  • The stock has underperformed its peers but has outperformed the market.
  • Scotiabank’s dividend yield of 4.7% is safe, and you can expect stable dividend growth from the bank.

As the third-largest Canadian bank by market cap, Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS)(NYSE:BNS) or Scotiabank is often viewed as a blue-chip dividend growth stock. However, it may not be as great an investment as you think.

First, here’s an overview of the bank.

Business Overview of Bank of Nova Scotia

Scotiabank is Canada’s most international bank, but it still generates about half of its earnings from Canada. Its Canadian Banking segment is secure and generated the highest return on equity (“ROE”) of 22.7% in fiscal 2018 compared to the ROE of 14.4% and 16%, respectively, for its International Banking segment and its Global Banking and Markets segment. The overall ROE was decent at 14.9%.

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The Market is Spooked Out! But You Shouldn’t Be.

The U.S. and Canadian stock markets have declined about 8% and 9%, respectively, from their 52-week highs. They’re spooked out from the Halloween month!

Let’s take a step back and be objective. The U.S. market is still about 29% higher than three years ago. The Canadian market? About 12% higher. From five years ago, the U.S. market is 52% higher and the Canadian market is 15% higher.

SPY Chart

SPY data by YCharts. The 10-year price action of SPY and TSX:XIU

You get the big picture. The stock markets go up over the long term. Historically, it has always been money-making opportunities to buy quality companies on dips. And this dip is no different if you find great businesses to be attractively priced.

Here are some North American dividend-growth stocks that I find compelling today.

Undervalued Healthcare Stock

halloween

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) offers a safe 4.7%. Its payout ratio of less than 50% is sustainable.

Since AbbVie was spun off from Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) in 2013, it has increased its dividend every year thereafter. Its four-year dividend growth rate is 13.2%. Its trailing 12-month dividend per share is 40% higher than the previous 12 months.

The spooked market has brought AbbVie back into undervalued territory. At less than US$82 per share, it trades at a blended P/E of about 11. Analysts estimate the company will grow its earnings per share by at least 12% per year for the next three to five years. Read More

Benefit from Rising Interest Rates with the Big 5 Canadian Banks

This is a guest contribution by Nick McCullum of Sure Dividend. Sure Dividend uses The 8 Rules of Dividend Investing to identify high-quality dividend stocks suitable for long-term investment.

The Big 5 Canadian banks offer great dividends and the stocks look poised for steady long-term growth if interest rates continue to go higher.

This article will discuss:

  • why we think interest rates in North America are going higher,
  • 5 actionable investment ideas that allow investors to benefit from rising interest rates, and
  • why the banks will benefit from rising interest rates

Interest Rates Are Heading Higher

In both Canada and the United States, the trend is clear: interest rates are on their way up after a prolonged period at near-zero benchmark rates.

In July, the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest for the first time since 2010. While the bank did not communicate any concrete plans for future rate hikes, it is likely that more are coming.

Graph of Bank of Canada Overnight Money Market Financing Rate from 1975-2017

Source: YCharts

In the United States, the trend is even more clear.

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