TD set to expand in the U.S.

Article Excerpt

TD BANK, $84.77, (Toronto symbol TD; Shares o/s: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $152.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.td.com) is a buy. The bank now expects to complete its $13.4 billion U.S. acquisition of Tennessee-based First Horizon Corporation (New York symbol FHN) in early 2023. The purchase will make TD the sixth-largest bank in the U.S. Meantime, the bank continues to benefit from rising loan demand and credit card use as the economy reopens in the wake of COVID-19. In its fiscal 2022 second quarter, ended April 30, 2022, revenue rose 7.9%, to $11.04 billion from $10.23 billion a year earlier. TD is also setting aside more funds to cover future bad loans as the economy recovers. Those provisions totalled $27 million in the latest quarter compared to a net credit of $377 million. That’s partly why earnings in the quarter fell 1.6%, to $3.71 billion from $3.78 billion. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings declined 1.0%, to $2.02 from $2.04. TD Bank is…