Scotiabank is a top bank buy.

Article Excerpt

We’ve long said that the top five Canadian banks tend to leapfrog each other in investment desirability. That’s why we advise that most Canadians own two or even three of them—including Bank of Nova Scotia. Its cheap price, prospects for growth and its high yield make it a buy. BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, $59.71, is a buy. The lender (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $69.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 7.1%; www.scotiabank.com) is Canada’s third-largest bank. Due to the current economic uncertainty as a result of higher interest rates and inflation, Bank of Nova Scotia set aside $1.26 billion to cover future loan losses in its fiscal 2023 fourth quarter, ended October 31, 2023. That’s up 137.4% from $529 million a year earlier. The bank is also cutting 3% of its global workforce to improve its long-term efficiency. If you exclude all unusual items, such as severance payments, the bank’s earnings in the quarter fell 38.8%, to $1.26 a..