EC Is TD Bank A Better Bargain Than Ever?

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) stock is down 5% in the past one month.

The sudden decline is largely due to a recent report in a Canadian newspaper, which alleged that the bank has pressured employees to open accounts for customers that they did not need.

The article raises questions about TD Bank’s sales targets. In the aftermath of the report, several analysts downgraded TD, with some drawing parallels to the Wells Fargo (WFC) fake accounts scandal.

TD Bank does not qualify as a Dividend Achiever, a group of 271 stocks with 10+ years of consecutive dividend increases.

You can see the full Dividend Achievers List here.

However, it does have a consistent track record of dividend growth. It recently hiked its dividend by 9%.

And, thanks to its recent share price dip, the stock has a dividend yield almost twice the S&P 500 Index average yield.

This article will discuss why TD Bank may be a bargain stock.

Business Overview

TD Bank is a major financial institution. In fact, it is the fifth-largest bank by total assets, and the sixth-largest bank by market capitalization.

It has more than 2,400 locations across North America, most of which are in Canada.

Source: 2017 Investor Presentation, page 4

TD has three main segments:

The Canadian & U.S. retail segments operate basically the same businesses, which are personal banking, credit cards, auto loans, and commercial banking.

The Wholesale Banking segment includes research, investment banking, and capital markets services.

With a huge network of branches and ATMs and a strong brand, TD has generated strong earnings growth for many years.

Source: 2017 Investor Presentation, page 12

Over the past five years, TD grew earnings-per-share by 8.4% per year, on average.

Future growth will come from several potential catalysts, which include rising interest rates and cost controls.