Royal Bank (RY.TO)

Banking operation is almost entirely Canadian, but its US operation is more in the investment banking/wealth management area.

All the banks have had a major base building and a major beginning of an uptrend. However they are all extended and a little pause would provide a better buying opportunity at around $75.

There are 2 periods of seasonality for the banks. One is from October until December, when it takes a bit of a break, and then February until April each year. Great chart. Shows an upward trend. Trading above its 20 day moving average. Strength relative to the market is positive.

On average, the Canadian banks have low upsides. He prefers US banks. Canadian banks are in fine shape and will go to valuation highs.

High quality bank and it screens well. Pays a nice dividend.

(Top Pick Jun 12/13, Up 32.60%) Stronger in insurance and wealth management and doing well in the UK, firing on all cylinders and the dividend keeps going up: 3.8% yield at current levels. Not looking for significant appreciation from here, but a favourite bank at this point.

(RY.PR.I-T). 3.52% Series AJ Preferreds. This has gone down while the rest of the bond market has gone up. This is symptomatic of the preferred share market overall. This is a Rate Reset, and just had a reset in February at 3.52% for the next 5 years. Because of a change in bank regulations, there is a very high likelihood that this will be taken out in 2019, which makes it a five-year investment.

He was pleasantly surprised by their second-quarter earnings that just came out in the last couple of weeks. This is right at the top of his list in terms of favourite long-term bank holdings.

Likes the earnings. About half their earnings are coming from lending, commercial and residential credit with the balance coming from wealth management and capital markets. They all had very strong results. It has lagged the other banks, which it shouldn’t have. Trading at about 11.5X forward earnings. ROE is consistently the highest among the banks. Earnings are going to grow in the 8% range. As earnings growth continues, she expects it will increase the dividends at that pace. 3.5% dividend yield.

Royal Bank (RY-T), J.P. Morgan (JPM-N) or Bank of America (BAC-N)? A lot of part of 2013 for US banks looked fantastic, especially in January. However, something is going on there. There have been more fines with these organizations. US banks have been struggling. J.P. Morgan is better than most in terms of fundamentals. His target price for this bank is right where it is trading at, but it could go to the $83.40 level. He is partial to the US financials.

Although hitting 52-week highs, you should stay with the banks because they are money making machines. Have all been reporting over the last week or so, and the domestic Canadian market looks very healthy. We are only now starting to get back to where we were in 2007. Having some bonds as well would be a sensible policy.

Hit an all-time high today on stronger-than-expected earnings. Indicative of a franchise that is very profitable. Banking in Canada is generally very profitable. 50% of their earnings come from personal and commercial banking. Wealth management was particularly strong. Earnings growth is likely to be mid-single digits.

Likes the banks generally. They are core long-term holdings. You are not looking for stocks that are shooting the lights out in this particular case. He looks for a decent yield (3.5%) and a consistent 5% growth rate for long-term total returns of 8%-9%. Banks will add stability to a portfolio.

Within financials, banks are his favourite sector. This one is very well-balanced in terms of geographic exposure and its blend between retail, capital markets and wealth management. However, he prefers US banks as he likes their recovery.

One of the great things about Canada is our banking system. In the long-term, it is very hard to do better than the Canadian banks. However, there is always the game of “which one”. He has been in and out of this one over the years. A very solid bank although they didn’t have as good adventure in the US. At the moment Toronto Dominion (TD-T) is his favourite.