Topic: Dividend Stocks

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $73 – Toronto symbol BNS

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $73 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $87.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.scotiabank.com) is the third-largest bank in Canada, with $791.8 billion of assets.

The bank continues to expand overseas. It recently agreed to pay $300 million for 51% of the credit card operations of Cencosud S.A., Chile’s largest retailer. The deal will make the bank Chile’s third-largest credit card issuer.

In the quarter ended April 30, 2014, Bank of Nova Scotia’s earnings rose 13.9%, to $1.8 billion, or $1.39 a share. A year earlier, it earned $1.6 billion, or $1.22 a share. Revenue gained 9.8%, to $5.7 billion from $5.2 billion.

Earnings at the Canadian banking division (which supplies 32% of the total) rose 11.4%. The increase is partly due to ING Direct (now renamed Tangerine), which Bank of Nova Scotia purchased for $3.1 billion in November 2012. Higher credit card balances and steady loan demand also contributed to the gain.

The international division (26% of total earnings) saw its profits rise 0.2%, as higher loan demand in Asia and Latin America offset rising loan-loss provisions. The lower Canadian dollar also boosted the contribution of its overseas businesses.

Earnings at the securities-trading operations (22%) rose 9.4%, due to favourable currency rates and investment gains. Earnings at the wealth management division (20%) increased 11.3%, as rising stock values pushed up the value of the assets this business manages.

Bank of Nova Scotia set aside $375 million to cover bad loans in the latest quarter, up 9.3% from $343 million a year earlier. The stock trades at 13.2 times the $5.55 a share the bank will probably earn in 2014. The $2.56 dividend yields 3.5%.

Bank of Nova Scotia is a buy.

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