Scotiabank moves past the pandemic

Article Excerpt

Bank of Nova Scotia shares continue to soar beyond their pre-pandemic levels as the economy recovers from last year’s downturn. Meantime, restrictions that prevent federally regulated lenders like Scotiabank from raising dividends and buying back shares remain in effect. However, it’s likely the regulator will relax those rules later this year. We still see Bank of Nova Scotia as a top pick for its focused international business and the resilience of its diversified revenue streams. BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $79.02 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $96.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.6%; www.scotiabank.com) is Canada’s third-largest bank. Thanks to an improving economic outlook, Bank of Nova Scotia is reversing some of the loan-loss provisions it made in early 2020 to cover a potential jump in bad loans due to the pandemic. In the second quarter ended April 30, 2021, it set aside $496 million to cover future loan losses. That’s down 73.1% from $1.85 billion a..