National Bank of Canada (NA.TO)

National Bank or Canadian Western Bank or Laurentian? Definitely National. It's growing in asset management and spending on technology, adapting their tech to their data findings. Drawback is it's Canadian-only focus. That said, he prefers larger banks operating in U.S. like TD and Royal.

She owns three banks but does not own National Bank among them because it is more Canadian-centric at a time when US exposure is more valuable. It is also more dependent on the capital markets than the other banks, which is more volatile. It has pulled back well. It is growing well in the wealth management segment and is probably the custodian of choice at this time.

Not an exciting name, doesn’t have the same brand power as the larger banks, but it has been one of the best performing Canadian banks in 2016 and 2017. Trades at 11x earnings with a dividend yield of 3.9%. It makes sense to have money going into this name at this price. (Analysts' price target is $66.54).

It is a fine bank. It is much more of a regional North American bank. It does not have much US exposure. He prefers the US banks.

He likes Canadian banks in general. You have wind at your back with Net Interest Margins, a solid equity market, and the credit quality is very good. This one is cheap relative to the others. He is modelling really good growth at 7%. They've just had an extremely positive run, and in Q4, they beat. He sees their balance sheet continuing to improve. Dividend yield of 3.8%.

(A Top Pick March 1/17. Up 15%.) He likes what they are doing. They’ve made a big force to push outside of Québec. The jewel is their administrative business. Trading around 10.5X expected earnings for 2019. Nice dividend yield.

Loves all the Canadian banks because they are trading at around 11 or 12 times earnings. The overall market is trading at around 19X. Banks have had such consistent results, and have excess capital. They are meeting all the regulatory requirements. Will benefit from rising interest rates, a record stock market and a stable and improving economy. Trading at 10X earnings which makes no sense. Dividend yield of 3.8%. (Analysts' price target is $66.)

As a retiree, your retirement income just got you an extra 3% growth. Before you sell ask what you will buy that will equal the income and growth. Watch what is taxable. It is a domestic bank. It had a really good run. Don’t expect the same returns because the fear factor came off. The dividend is attractive.

It has had a remarkable run over the last 10 years. It has doubled. This is mostly due to the management team. It has the highest return on equity of the group. It has re-rated higher. It has gone from being a small regional bank to one of the big boys. It is now one of the big-six banks (formerly 5). He would be tempted to take partial profits. There is nothing wrong with it operationally.

Thinks Canadian banks in general are going to be dragged higher by macro forces, not least of which is energy. This has a pretty solid energy franchise on the investment banking side. Have well above average return on equities, which would typically afford them higher multiples. ROE is about 18%.

Almost a pure Canadian play. Being a pure Canadian play, people worry about what their exposure is to high debt levels that people have run up in housing. Being mostly a Québec based bank, this bank hasn’t had the same exposure to the housing market in Toronto and Vancouver. Compared to other banks, it has more of a capital exposure, and has done well at that. This is fine to own.

If you want to buy this, you first want to decide if you want to buy Canadian banks at these levels. If so, which one is the best one to buy? This one is running at a pretty good discount to the rest of the banks, at a time when its capital ratios have been coming up and its growth rate looks pretty good compared to its peers. The energy story is going from really bad to okay. A fairly good story at these levels.

He thinks it is a long term hold. He does not take ownership because of the need for downside protection. He thinks the expectations are too high. It has good long term prospects, however. They are growing debt levels but incomes are not following. They are setting up for a lack of dividend growth.

They used to be a more Quebec-centric bank but did some significant investments in Western Canada in the last few years. Usually sells at discount to the other big banks but now trades more in-line. He doesn’t see any compelling reason to buy at this point, at the right price he would consider it.

Thinks this is his best idea. Trades at a discount to the big Canadian banks on a PE basis, and is generating higher return on equity. Has one of the best divisions which the market is not properly pricing; their fund administration business.