Big move for TD Bank

Article Excerpt

TD BANK, $83.93, (Toronto symbol TD; Shares o/s: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $149.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.td.com) is a buy. The bank has just announced the acquisition of Cowen Inc. (symbol COWN on Nasdaq) for $3.9 billion. Cowen provides investment banking, research, sales and trading, prime brokerage, outsourced trading, global clearing, and commission management services. It also has an investment management division, which offers actively managed alternative investment products. Founded in 1918, Cowen is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide. Cowen should be a good fit for TD and will accelerate its U.S. growth strategy. Meanwhile, to help pay for the purchase, TD has sold some of its shares of The Charles Schwab Corp. (symbol SCHW on New York) for $1.9 billion. The transaction reduced TD’s ownership interest in Schwab to 12% from about 13.4%. TD Bank is still a buy. buy…