Investors' optimism in the midst of pandemic has improved among those who consulted financial advisors, according to a new survey by Scotia Global Asset Management Investor Sentiment. The sentiment index jumped to 117 in November 2020 against 100 in May 2020.
Eight-two per cent of Canadian investors who reached out to their consultant in the last six months felt confident about their investment plans, claimed the Scotiabank survey. In contrast, only 56 per cent people of those who did not connect with their advisor during the same period remained optimistic.
Throughout 2020, bank stocks continued to trend on TMX’s price volume actives. Stocks of two of largest Canadian banks – Toronto-Dominion and Bank of Nova Scotia – holds a robust 10-day trading average volume of 9.32 million and 6 million, respectively. The stocks have been trading in the green despite the benchmark TSX Composite index doffing 0.5 per cent on Monday, January 11.
Let us look at these giant bank stocks and their performances:
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD)
Current Stock Price: C$ 74.20
Stocks of one of the largest Canadian bank are up nearly 21 per cent in the last three months. The giant asset firm has made it to TMX’s top financial stocklist – a list of stocks that have outshined their peers in the last one month. The TSX-listed stocks have returned almost 7 per cent in one year.
The bank stock is delivering earnings per share of C$ 6.42, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, as per TMX data. The blue-chip stock has a return on equity (ROE) of 13.17 per cent and a marginal return on assets of 0.72 per cent.
TD Bank pays its shareholders a quarterly cash dividend of C$ 0.79. It posted an adjusted net income of C$ 2,970 million in the fourth quarter results of 2020 from C$ 2,946 million in Q4 2019.
Its current dividend yield is 4.259 per cent.
Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS)
Current Stock Price: C$ 68.06
The blue-chip scrips have soared as much as 20 per cent in the last three months. After a massive drop during the pandemic market crash in March 2020, the bank stock has rebounded well and shows a slight gain of 0.51 per cent in the last one year.
The active stocks of Scotiabank rank among TMX’s top volume companies across the TSX and the TSXV in the last 10 days. It has a 10-day average volume of 6.07 million units.
The lender distributes a quarterly dividend of C$ 0.90 per common share. It has a current dividend yield of 5.289 per cent, as per data on the TMX portal. Its present ROE is 10.11 per cent and ROA is 0.58 per cent. The current debt-to-equity ratio stands at 0.17.
The large-cap company posted a net income of C$ 1,899 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, vis-à-vis C$ 2,308 million in Q4 2019.
It distributed C$ 0.9 quarterly dividends and currently yields 5.289 per cent.