Scotia Analyst: Canadian Banks Attractive at Current Prices

There are plenty of views around about when the bottom will come for Canadian bank stocks. But whether we are there or not, Bank of Nova Scotia analyst Kevin Choquette is urging investors to “aggressively” buy the Canadian banks at current prices.

In a report released on Wednesday, Mr. Choquette said:

Canadian banks stocks have been hit hard despite relatively modest write downs.

[Their] market capitalization has declined C$73-billion (excluding Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) from their highs which is 29 times the total cumulative after tax write downs of C$2.5-billion.

The Scotia analyst admits to being surprised by the level of “panic selling” as a crisis of confidence flows north from the U.S. Still, he says, “we remain very constructive towards Canadian banks.”

Mr. Choquette’s top picks in the sector are Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Canadian Western Bank [CWB/TSX], and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS).