Look for TD’s next dividend hike in 2021

Article Excerpt

Due to concerns over the ability of Canada’s Big Five banks, including TD, to absorb bad loans as a result of COVID-19, regulators have ordered them to freeze their dividends to preserve capital. However, TD has little exposure to borrowers hit hard by the pandemic. A gain on the sale of its U.S. brokerage firm should also let it resume dividend increases in 2021. TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $58 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol TD; Income-Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $104.4 billion; Dividend yield: 5.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.td.com) is North America’s fifth-largest bank, with total assets of $1.70 trillion. TD gets 54% of its earnings from its Canadian retail business, which operates 1,087 branches. In the U.S., it has 1,220 branches along the East Coast, from Maine to Florida. This division supplies 29% of its earnings. The remaining 17% comes from TD’s wholesale banking business; that unit offers securities trading and investment banking services such as…