Three key updates for Successful investors: Royal Bank of Canada, Thomson Reuters and Bank of Nova Scotia

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ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $96 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $134.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) purchased Los Angeles-based City National Bank in 2015 for $5.5 billion U.S. in cash and shares. Thanks to that acquisition, Royal’s U.S. operations now supply 23% of its revenue. The U.S. Federal Reserve recently announced the results of its latest “stress test.” It measures how federally regulated financial firms would cope with a jump in unemployment, falling stock prices and other unfavourable developments. Reflecting the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Royal’s U.S. division earned a CET1 ratio of 13.6%. (CET1, or Common Equity Tier 1, measures a bank’s ability to keep extending credit to individuals and businesses.) That’s well above the Fed’s minimum level of 4.5%. Royal Bank is a buy. THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $94 remains a buy. The company (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector;…