What You Need to Know About Toronto-Dominion Bank (USA) (TD)

6. Solid share-price performance
Over the past year, Toronto-Dominion Bank (USA) (NYSE:TD) has a big American operation, so this isn’t surprising; it runs 1,315 brancs from Maine to Florida stock has gained 4.97%, enough to keep up with the S&P 500 on an annualized basis. This is actually good performance for a bank, though it’s not what we’re used to seeing here in America of late. Since the financial crisis — which again, Canada and its banks didn’t experience like us — American bank stocks have gone through the roof. They also had fallen farther, both in monetary value and in reputation. In some respects, the big American banks had nowhere to go but up.

So, sure, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) stock has gained 70.23% over the past year. But as American banks become more stable, and therefore get back to being boring in the style of their northern cousins, it’s unlikely those kinds of returns will continue.

7. A great dividend
TD currently pays an annual dividend yield of 4.00%. JPMorgan and Wells Fargo pay 2.90% and 3.00%, respectively. Healthy, but not TD Bank healthy. B of A pays 0.30%, and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) pays just 0.10%.

Foolish bottom line
TD Bank is big enough to matter, Canadian enough to be stable, has eye-popping efficiency metrics, and pays a nice dividend. From a share-price appreciation perspective, it’s no B of A, but it doesn’t face B of A’s regularly scheduled existential payout moments either. This means fewer ulcers for you, the investor. Canadian banking is like American banking without the go-for-it, in-your-face mentality that can be utterly brilliant or utterly terrifying — making Toronto-Dominion Bank (USA) (NYSE:TD) has a big American operation, so this isn’t surprising; it runs 1,315 brancs from Maine to Florida worth a serious look.

The article 7 Things You Need to Know About TD Bank originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor John Grgurich owns shares of Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase. Follow John’s dispatches from the not-so-muddy trenches of big-banking and high-finance on Twitter @TMFGrgurich. The Motley Fool recommends American Express, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

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