Two blue-chips for safety-conscious investors

Article Excerpt

Bank of Nova Scotia and insurer Great-West are leading competitors in their respective markets; look for that to cut your ongoing risk. Still, for now, we see Great-West as a hold, while Bank of Nova Scotia remains a buy. BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, $68.69, is a buy. The lender (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares o/s: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $84.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 6.2%; www.scotiabank.com) is Canada’s third-largest bank. Due to the current economic uncertainty as a result of relatively high interest rates and inflation, particularly in Latin America, Scotiabank set aside $1.05 billion in its fiscal 2024 third quarter, ended July 31, 2024, to cover future loan losses. That’s up 28.4% from $819 million a year earlier. As a result, the bank’s earnings before one-time items in the quarter fell 2.4%, to $2.03 billion from $2.08 billion. Due to more shares outstanding, per-share earnings declined at a faster rate of 5.2%, to $1.63 from $1.72. The Canadian banking operations (42% of the total)…