| WATCH | 48.750 | Peter Gibson | 350 companies in the US financial sector have plummeting profitability. These concerns are going to keep on revisiting us. Would love to step in and buy this one at the right time and is waiting for the opportunity. A little uptick in profitability and he will be there. | 2008-08-29 | |
| DON'T BUY | 48.750 | Stephen Carlin | Banks did a really good job this quarter relative to expectations. This would be one of the stellar ones. The issue he has with the banks right now is lack of earnings growth. Thinks we are through the worst of the asset backed write-offs. Now we are into the pure credit cycle and there is a little bit more deterioration on the credit side. | 2008-08-29 | |
| Comment | 44.130 | Shauna Sexsmith | With a 5-year time horizon, you are fine with any of the banks. This one has moer issues with the US with its bigger exposure. Caught in the same issues as all global financials. Credit crunch is impacting balance sheets. Probably more write-downs to come. Earnings growth is going to be pretty tough. | 2008-08-26 | |
| DON'T BUY | 46.610 | Bruce Campbell | Would prefer Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T). Owns this but is underweight. Worried that they could surprise on the downside in the quarter. | 2008-08-18 | |
| DON'T BUY | 47.130 | Norman Levine | About 25% of its earnings come from the US now. Banks with US exposure are not valued as well as those without. There is still a black hole in the US as to how much bad paper is still out there. A great bank, but its US exposure will continue to hurt them. | 2008-08-12 | |
| DON'T BUY | 46.720 | David Cockfield | (Preferred Shares) Not have fan of preferred shares. Most of them are perpetual is meaning that once you buy them you are stuck with them. He sees higher interest rate potential down the road. | 2008-08-01 | |
| Comment | 43.720 | Duncan Stewart | Well run bank. If the US financials turnaround, the Canadian banks will start to recover. | 2008-07-28 | |
| DON'T BUY | 44.330 | Norman Levine | On Canadian banks this is the biggest and probably the strongest but unfortunately it has built up a big presence in the US, which has built up their risk factor. | 2008-07-21 | |
| Comment | 44.350 | Bill MacLachlan | Q: Sell this one for a tax loss and going into Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T)? A: From a tax point of view, he would have no disagreement with this. In 5, 10, 15 years both banks are going to look like great investments. On the other hand, you could add BNS to your existing portfolio. | 2008-07-17 | |
| WAIT | 40.180 | Ross Healey | Would wait for lower prices. Could see the stock easily trading down at around $38 but the target he would really like to see is $31 and he thinks it will get there. | 2008-07-15 | |
| HOLD | 41.030 | John Zechner | Have some issues they have to deal with. Expansion in the US and limited growth in Canada. Valuation is getting somewhat more attractive. Wouldn't rush out and buy the banks yet. | 2008-07-14 | |
| HOLD | 43.630 | Laura Wallace | Vulnerable, but not as much as some of the others. Medium to longer term, have a great franchise and the US expansion will be positive. Possible US recession and credit contraction will be tough on the banks. Prefers Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T). | 2008-07-10 | |
| Comment | 46.020 | Peter Gibson | If you’re looking at 10 years you’ll do well here. If you are looking out at the next year and a half, he does not see a V shaped recovery in the financial sector or in the US economy. | 2008-06-27 | |
| BUY | 49.460 | Paul Gardner, CFA | His 2nd favourite bank. (Toronto Dominion (TD-T) is #1.) They didn't participate in a lot of the blow-up in the US. About 1.5X book value, which is historically cheap. Yield of 4.07%. Canadian banks now have the power of currency behind acquisition. | 2008-05-28 | |
| DON'T BUY | 50.150 | Bruce Campbell | Reports this week and is looking at about 8% or 10% pullback below last year's 2nd quarter. This is the one that he worries little bit about because they've got pretty good US consumer exposure. | 2008-05-26 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 50.630 | John O'Connell, CFA | (A Top Pick July 31/07. Down 5%.) Still buying. | 2008-05-15 | |
| BUY | 50.630 | Steve MacInnes | The strength in this bank is the tremendous domestic franchise. Their capital markets position is pre-eminent. Didn’t get into major trouble on this last cycle. Well managed. | 2008-05-15 | |
| TOP PICK | 48.620 | David Baskin | This is a bank that has not had a significant problem with the US housing and credit crunch. Will have less revenue from their securities arm as there is less underwriting going on. Fundamentally it is a very strong bank. Strong dividend and growing. Price/earnings multiple is down by 25%. Good yield of over 3% for conservative investors. | 2008-05-13 | |
| HOLD | 47.050 | Robert Floyd | With their US exposure, it is possible there are some assets they will have to write down. All the same, this bank has had a history of showing very strong ROE's in the past. Their strategy has been more North American than some of the other banks. Very well run operation. | 2008-04-29 | |
| SELL | 48.830 | Ravi Sood | (Market Call Minute.) Can do better in other banks. | 2008-04-21 | |
| HOLD | 48.830 | Richard Croft | Very good dividend. One of the best banks. He likes the banks and thinks most of the bad news is out of them. | 2008-04-21 | |
| SELL | 48.060 | David Burrows | (Market Call Minute.) Multiple compression coming in the financials. | 2008-04-18 | |
| BUY | 47.350 | Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA, CFA | The banks are cheap. If you believe the earnings estimates that are out there, there is a lot of good upside in them. | 2008-04-17 | |
| HOLD | 47.040 | Don Lato | Pays a very good dividend. Very secure. Trading at its lowest valuation in many years. Earnings growth may be a bit on the slow side but certainly enough to pay the dividend. | 2008-04-09 | |
| DON'T BUY | 48.660 | Brian Acker, CA | Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T), Royal Bank (RY-T) and Toronto Dominion (TD-T) are probably the most expensive banks in North America and possibly even the European banks. The upside in his model price is in single digits. The most upside to his model prices are National Bank (NA-T), CIBC (CM-T) and Bank of Montreal (BMO-T). | 2008-04-03 | |
| HOLD | 48.790 | Michael Smedley | As a long-term investor, you stay with companies like this. | 2008-04-01 | |
| DON'T BUY | 45.560 | David Burrows | Blanket statement for Canadian banks, he doesn't own them. Earnings will be under pressure for sometime (2 years). We have a little reprieve here due to the FED action. | 2008-03-19 | |
| HOLD | 44.320 | David Driscoll | Don’t sell, we’ll get through this bad market. Any of the big banks should not be going close to bankruptcy. There may be further weakness but hold. | 2008-03-17 | |
| BUY | 47.060 | Derek Webb, CFA | This bank has produced the best earnings. A simple comment on all Canadian banks, this is a huge buying opportunity for any long-term view. Simple rule of thumb: any time Canadian banks have gone down 20%, it's always paid to buy them. It will be basically flat money for a while. | 2008-03-11 | |
| BUY | 50.550 | David Baskin | This is a good play. Stock has dropped significantly making it pretty cheap on the fundamentals. Low PE multiple and good dividend yield. Good prospects going forward. Some US exposure, which doesn't appear to be huge. | 2008-02-19 | |
| Comment | 51.290 | Brian Acker, CA | 10.5% upside on his model price. | 2008-02-07 | |
| BUY | 50.120 | Andrew Guy, CFA | (Market Call Minute.) Banks are cheap and the dividend growth story continues. | 2008-02-06 | |
| Comment | 49.900 | Laura Wallace | Surprised the market with their write down on monoline bond insurers. The bank is okay, but not one of her 2 favourites. | 2008-01-30 | |
| DON'T BUY | 47.710 | David Burrows | Very difficult environment for financials that will continue for some time. Canadian banks are higher quality with better capital ratios than US banks but with deteriorating credit and issues with structured products, he would avoid all financials. If he had to buy a bank, his preference would be Canadian Western (CWB-T). | 2008-01-18 | |
| Comment | 48.110 | Brian Acker, CA | Got out of all the Canadian banks last April. At this point, he would rather Trade them than Buy and Hold. His model price is $54.41, almost a 12% differential. Model price has been coming down. The next level would be $44.70, which is where he would buy for a Trade. | 2008-01-17 | |
| WATCH | 48.650 | Don Vialoux | Canadian bank stocks have 2 periods of seasonal strength. Next one starts at the end of January and goes through until the end of May. Toronto Dominion (TD-T) or Royal Bank (RY-T) would be his favourites. Consider buying closer to February. Also keep an eye on the sector. | 2008-01-16 | |
| BUY | 49.000 | Michael Sprung | Concerns over the credit market have hit the Canadian banks. Have been expanding in the US so the impact of the Cdn$ and how they report back to Canada will affect them. At current prices, all of the Canadian banks are looking fairly attractive. 4% yield. Very solid ROE, 25% lately but will probably be around 23% for the next couple of years. | 2008-01-08 | |
| HOLD | 50.740 | Bruce Campbell | Has trended down over the last 9 months. Had a premium valuation going into 2007. Its performance has been fine, but the valuation has trended back to the mean. Has some US exposure through RBC Venturis. | 2007-12-31 | |
| BUY | 50.800 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Has a vibrant retail network. Exposure to the capital markets is not as high as the other banks. Didn't get caught too much with the subprime issue. | 2007-12-28 | |
| BUY | 53.070 | Michael Sprung | There is no particular rush to buy banks at this particular time. Problems in commercial paper, loans out of the US, etc., will continue to be out there. You can buy the banks now at a pretty attractive yield and markets have probably discounted a lot of the problems that might come forward. If you are looking out 2 or 3 years, you could buy at this time. 3.8% yield. | 2007-12-10 | |
| HOLD | 53.490 | Norman Levine | Would hesitate to buy any bank for the next several months. Canadian domestic retail operation is fantastic. Have some relatively new US retail assets and have taken some write-downs and there will probably be more. Has a premium valuation, which should become more of an average valuation until we know how many US cockroaches there are. | 2007-12-03 | |
| BUY | 52.930 | Derek Webb, CFA | Not long or short any banks right now. When you look at earnings yield (EP) on Canadian banks relative to interest rates or you look at the dividend yield relative to interest rates they are as cheap as they have been in 30 years. This is a clear barometer as to how cheap the market is right now. If he were a value investor, he would be backing up the trucks right now. | 2007-11-28 | |
| HOLD | 50.050 | Ron Meisels | Not any different than the rest of the banks. They are in a downtrend channel right now. The 200-day moving average has started to flatten out. Somewhere about $46, $47 could start to find support, but it will take time. | 2007-11-23 | |
| Comment | 49.750 | Bruce Campbell | Great long-term positions at these prices. Banks report in the next couple of weeks, which will tell us even more if they have any hidden asset backed commercial paper. Could buy half a position now and the rest after the report. Yield is currently above a 10-year government bond. | 2007-11-22 | |
| WEAK BUY | 50.060 | Gavin Graham | Have reduced exposure in banks within financials. Boring. You get the dividend and tax credit. The Canadian economy should do much better than the U.S. | 2007-11-19 | |
| Comment | 50.540 | Michael Decter | Largest and probably most conservative of the Canadian banks. He stepped out of most of the Canadian bank exposure because of worries about the asset-backed commercial paper. Might be getting to the point where you could get into the banks again. | 2007-11-12 | |
| Comment | 53.900 | Patrick Kim | Over the long term you will be a winner with either Toronto Dominion (TD-T) or Royal RY-T). Fantastic retail franchises, which will really determine the winners in the banking space. TD has been knocked back a bit so you get a better valuation with it. | 2007-11-02 | |
| HOLD | 53.880 | Stephen Carlin | Stick with Canadian financial services sector over American. Stick with Royal bank over American banks. | 2007-10-25 | |
| SELL | 55.890 | Ross Healey | Doesn't particularly like the banks so we would be more on the Sell side of things. | 2007-10-05 | |
| TOP PICK | 56.100 | John O'Connell, CFA | (Note: - Royal employs him.) Very aggressive in making acquisitions outside Canada. 4th largest banker in the Caribbean. Increased its dividend 25% in the last year. Good value. | 2007-10-04 | |
| HOLD | 55.930 | Chyanne Fickes | A good long-term hold. Her other choices in banks would be Toronto Dominion (TD-T) and Scotia (BNS-T). At this price, she is taking some money off the table and putting it into non-bank financials. | 2007-10-01 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 55.050 | David Cockfield | Banks as a group have been taking a rest recently. The Royal is a class act. This is the kind of stock you can buy and put away. The upcoming environment for the banks is a little bit tricky right now, so you will have opportunities to buy. | 2007-09-28 | |
| DON'T BUY | 55.260 | Ron Meisels | Had been subject to some top forming and problem areas. Had a strong up leg and then went into a head and shoulders formation. Price has fallen below the moving averages, which indicates some problems ahead. | 2007-09-27 | |
| DON'T BUY | 53.730 | David Burrows | Wouldn’t be buyer. Canadian over own financial stocks. Poor performer since August. | 2007-09-19 | |
| Comment | 52.350 | Robert Floyd | Because of their increased exposure in the US are facing a bit of the credit crunch and are being tarred on sub primes with the same brush. Some of the other banks are looking better to investors. | 2007-09-14 | |
| VAGUE | 52.510 | Peter Brieger | Likes Canadians banks, they will fare better than American counterparts. | 2007-09-13 | |
| VAGUE | 52.510 | Peter Brieger | Likes Canadians banks, they will fare better than American counterparts. | 2007-09-13 | |
| Comment | 53.070 | Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA, CFA | Used to be the leader and traded at a premium. Have struggled a bit with their US operations. | 2007-09-12 | |
| DON'T BUY | 54.340 | Michael Sprung | Feels it is pricey at over 3X book. 3.7% yield but you can do as well in many of the other banks. | 2007-08-31 | |
| BUY | 53.930 | Chris Smith | Had a pretty good quarter. Banks look very interesting here. Doesn't think there's a lot more damage that could be felt on the asset side. Very well run. | 2007-08-30 | |
| HOLD | 54.340 | Norman Levine | In the current economy, banks will be leading the market down but once things turn around, they would lead the market back up. Doesn't think we are finished going down yet. Wait. | 2007-08-29 | |
| TOP PICK | 54.470 | John O'Connell, CFA | They have done a lot of things very well. Off about 10% from its highs. Yields about 3.6%. Good solid dividend. Multiple is less than the market, but earnings are growing greater than the market. Will be net beneficiaries of the subprime crisis eventuall | 2007-08-27 | |
| BUY | 53.400 | Greg A. Taylor, CFA, BBA | The leader of Canadian financials. It has held in a little better than the other Canadian banks and trades at a higher multiple. A leader in fixed income trading and bond portfolio, which seems to be slowing down. | 2007-08-20 | |
| WAIT | 52.000 | Peter Brieger | Probably the one bank with the least wrinkles, warts or imperfections. When the market shows signs of basing, and the bank stocks do the same, it would be a great buy. | 2007-08-14 | |
| WAIT | 53.770 | Veronika Hirsch | Exposure to subprime mortgages would be minimal compared to US banks. Mortgage market is slowing down. Sentiment is that the multiples in the US are pulling the stock down. Not risky, but the sentiment is currently wrong. Wait until September. | 2007-08-01 | |
| TOP PICK | 54.090 | John O'Connell, CFA | Has a dominant position in the banking and money management areas. Good dividend and earnings growth. Good long-term investment. | 2007-07-31 | |
| BUY | 54.090 | Michael Decter | Pretty good bank for the long haul. | 2007-07-31 | |
| HOLD | 53.800 | Bruce Campbell | Canadian banks are essentially flat year to date. They are still excellent long-term places to be. | 2007-07-30 | |
| BUY | 56.040 | Ian Nakamoto | Has a dominant franchise in Canada. | 2007-07-24 | |
| WAIT | 58.090 | Norman Levine | The outlook for all the major Canadian chartered banks in the next 6 months is less than stellar because of the rising interest-rate environment. 12 months and beyond, you'll probably see the end of that and the outlook will be good. | 2007-07-18 | |
| BUY | 57.920 | David Baskin | Likes the financials. Banks are not as interest sensitive as they used to be. Banks have had a relatively quiet 6 months so they are poised for the 2nd half. | 2007-07-17 | |
| Comment | 56.620 | Peter Brieger | The government as commented that they would not oppose bank mergers. This is one of the top banks in Canada. Recent malaise is due to the interest rate environment. | 2007-06-29 | |
| HOLD | 56.850 | John Zechner | Missed a little bit on the last quarter, which was the first time in a number of quarters. Still the premier bank in Canada. Expansion into the US has worked out relatively well. | 2007-06-18 | |
| DON'T BUY | 56.760 | Laura Wallace | Their #3 bank.
It's trading at the higher end of their trading value.
| 2007-06-08 | |
| HOLD | 57.640 | Peter Brieger | Has same chart as the other banks. It's not his favorite bank (TD,Commerce,Montreal).
If you own it, hold it.
If interest rates go up, that would hurt the banks. | 2007-06-04 | |
| HOLD | 58.830 | Robert Floyd | The major Canadian bank. Have a history of performing very well, showing extremely strong are ROE's in the past. Last quarter was a little disappointing on the insurance side. US operation is a little bit soft. | 2007-05-30 | |
| HOLD | 58.830 | Norman Levine | Unrealistic expectations were set so high, that when quarterly numbers were reported they couldn't be met. Still the best run bank in Canada. Probably ahead of itself. | 2007-05-30 | |
| TOP PICK | 59.050 | Pat McHugh | ROE of 24%. Up steadily and consistently at 17% from the bottom of this cycle. Have problems with insurance and assets in the US, but these are fixable. They will continue to increase dividends. | 2007-05-28 | |
| BUY | 60.620 | Brian Acker, CA | A positive 10% differential. | 2007-05-24 | |
| BUY | 60.300 | Laura Wallace | This is her 3d favourite bank. Seemed to have straightened out their US troubles. This is a fine company to hold on a long-term basis. | 2007-05-23 | |
| BUY | 60.150 | Paul Gardner, CFA | One of his 2 favourite banks (Toronto Dominion (TD-T) is his 2nd.). Have an amazing retail network. Great returns on their book of business. Trading at reasonable levels. | 2007-05-17 | |
| BUY | 59.490 | Ian Nakamoto | Canada's Premier Bank. Of all the banks, this is the one to one in terms of diversity of business. Strong mix of credit lending, wealth management, investment banking, transaction processing, etc. 3% yield. Continues to gain market share. | 2007-05-14 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 58.720 | Richard Croft | (A Top Pick May 18/06. Up 26.7%.) A well-run bank. Well-managed. | 2007-05-10 | |
| BUY | 58.390 | Brian Acker, CA | Doing a fantastic job in terms of increasing their earnings estimates. His model price is $66.40. That's a positive 14% differential. | 2007-04-12 | |
| BUY | 58.390 | Paul Harris, CFA | Canadian banks are not cheap, but are not expensive. They pay a reasonable yield and they trade at reasonable valuations. | 2007-04-12 | |
| BUY | 58.920 | David Baskin | Good long-term hold. Good dividend. (For his Top bank choice, see his Top Picks today.) | 2007-04-09 | |
| HOLD | 58.770 | Stephen Carlin | Good earnings growth profile. Expect they will increase the dividend payout ratio over the next couple of years. Looking for 12% upside. | 2007-04-05 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 57.760 | Bruce Campbell | Would wait for some weakness on this one. | 2007-04-02 | |
| HOLD | 57.500 | John O'Connell, CFA | Banks, generally speaking, will perform reasonably well. | 2007-03-30 | |
| BUY | 57.820 | Brad Willock | One of the best run operations. ROE is extremely high. They give a continuing increased dividend. | 2007-03-22 | |
| Comment | 57.310 | Paul Gardner, CFA | Banking sector has had a great run in the last 3 years. Expects this year will be a dividend plus 3%-4% year giving a 7% to 8% return. | 2007-03-19 | |
| BUY | 57.310 | Kyle McKay | Doesn't feel you can go wrong buying the stock, providing you have longer-term objective. Very nice dividend. Would also consider Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T), which offers a slightly higher dividend and higher ROE. | 2007-03-19 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 56.820 | Richard Croft | (A Top Pick May 18/06. Up 6%.) A sale of a Covered Call. Dividend of about 3% gave a cash flow. A short-term trade for about 2 or 3 months. | 2007-03-15 | |
| Comment | 56.920 | Laura Wallace | Its US subsidiary, Ventura, will benefit from the conservative nature of its Canadian parent’s lending practices and shouldn't be hit as hard by sub-prime and prime mortgage problems. | 2007-03-14 | |
| BUY | 56.920 | David Baskin | 2nd or 3rd favourite among the banks. Prefers Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) which has more prospects in Latin America than this one does in the US. | 2007-03-14 | |
| Comment | 53.880 | Alex Ruus | Banks are good solid businesses that make money over time and have a record of increasing dividends. Prefers Bank of America (BAC-N), which is a lot cheaper and higher dividend and with greater opportunity. He holds no Canadian banks. | 2007-03-01 | |
| BUY | 54.600 | Brendan Caldwell | Expects it will continue to do well. Ultimately, there will be some form of bank mergers. Not sure that their US strategy is going to work for them. | 2007-02-27 | |
| BUY | 54.630 | Peter Brieger | All five banks are a great long-term hold. He prefers Commerce (CM-T) and Toronto Dominion (TD-T). This one has had a terrific track record and will continue to. | 2007-02-19 | |
| BUY | 54.930 | David Driscoll | Like any of the banks, if you own it long enough the dividend growth is going to get you yield at costs. Get you downside protection. Long term investment. | 2007-02-15 | |
| BUY | 54.590 | David Baskin | Pretty much fully valued, and the same can be said for all the banks. This is pretty much at the top of its range. Dividend is good. Feels that banks, long-term, will return 8%-12% a year. | 2007-02-13 | |
Experts that have talked about Royal Bank