CIBC teams up with Costco

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $146 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 450.1 million; Market cap: $65.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.4; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cibc.com) is paying an undisclosed amount for the credit card business of Costco’s Canadian stores. As well, CIBC will become the exclusive issuer of Costco Mastercards in Canada. It expects to complete the purchase in early 2022. That business has over $3 billion in outstanding balances. To put that in context, CIBC had $10.87 billion in credit card loans as of July 31, 2021. And, that $10.87 billion equals just 2% of CIBC’s total loans. Still, this purchase will help the bank expand its credit card business beyond travel-related cards, which have suffered due COVID-19. CIBC is a buy. buy…