As the market continues its rollercoaster ride through 2019, an opportunity to pick up some stellar long-term investments continues to present itself.
One such opportunity is Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX: BNS)(NYSE: BNS) and here are a few reasons why Canada’s most international bank should be firmly on your as an investment.
Canada’s most international bank
While all of Canada’s Big Banks (and some smaller ones too) have a presence outside of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia’s international footprint is both unique and worthy of mention thanks to something called the Pacific Alliance.
The Pacific Alliance is a trade bloc set up among the nations of Mexico, Columbia, Peru and Chile to bolster trade and reduce tariffs. In order to capitalize on that emerging alliance, Bank of Nova Scotia established a presence in each of those countries, and in doing so has become a familiar face across the region.
That familiarity has resulted in double-digit growth for Bank of Nova Scotia’s international segment. Results for the third quarter are still a week or more out, but in the second fiscal, the bank saw adjusted net income from the segment surge 15% to $787 million.
Bank of Nova Scotia continues to expand
Over the course of the past year, Bank of Nova Scotia has completed six major acquisitions to bolster its position both in the domestic and international markets. At home, Bank of Nova Scotia completed the acquisition of Jarislowsky Fraser, one of the leading global investment firms in Canada.
The bank also completed the acquisition of BBVA Chile, which established Bank of Nova Scotia as one of the largest lenders in the Chilean market. A similarly strategic acquisition was completed in the most recent quarter for Peru-based Banco Cencosud.
Synergies from the above deals are likely to make their way into the next few resulting quarters.
What about income?
Strong growth and a booming international segment are great reasons to consider Bank of Nova Scotia, but another reason to consider the bank is its quarterly dividend.
Bank of Nova Scotia currently provides a juicy dividend that works out to a 5.14% yield, handily putting he bank in a league with some of the best income-earning stocks on the market.
Recent market jitters have caused some investors to call into question how solid that yield is in the face of a prolonged slowdown. Fortunately, Bank of Nova Scotia has a history of uninterrupted dividend payouts spanning 187 years. That’s an incredible amount of time that includes wars, booms and slowdowns that should alleviate some of those concerns.
Why now?
Now that we’ve established Bank of Nova as an intriguing investment option, there’s one final consideration to note: the market. I started this piece noting that we’re in a period of volatility. Although some may view this as a looming slowdown, that’s not necessarily a bad thing if you’re looking toward a long-term timeline.
As it stands, Bank of Nova is trading near flat in 2019, and its current stock price is hovering a few dollars over the 52-week low.
In my opinion, Bank of Nova Scotia remains a great long-term pick for nearly any portfolio.
