Their bargain hunting will benefit investors: Royal Bank, TD Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal and CIBC

Article Excerpt

Canada’s Big Five banks are setting aside fewer funds for future bad loans. That reflects government COVID-19 support programs to the those directly hurt by lockdowns. In response to the pandemic, banking regulators forced banks to suspend share buybacks and freeze their dividends. As a result, they may use their improving capital to make acquisitions in the U.S. or other foreign markets, probably at bargain prices. ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $109 is a buy. Canada’s largest bank (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $152.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) set aside $427 million to cover future loan losses in its fiscal 2020 fourth quarter, ended October 31, 2020. That’s down 14.4% from $499 million a year earlier. The latest provisions are also much better than the $675 million it booked in the third quarter. As a result, the bank’s earnings in this most-recent quarter still gained 1.2%, to $3.25…