TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (20,464.60, down 195.39 points.)
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down 58 cents, or 1.86 per cent, to $30.54 on 25.8 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 23 cents, or 1.01 per cent, to $23.07 on 22 million shares.
Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Industrials. Down 18 cents, or 10.4 per cent, to $1.55 on 13.4 million shares.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Down two cents, or 0.13 per cent, to $15.14 on 8.1 million shares.
Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Down 41 cents, or 0.86 per cent, to $47.52 on 6.2 million shares.
Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE). Energy. Down 12 cents, or 3.26 per cent, to $3.56 on 5.7 million shares.
Companies in the news:
National Bank of Canada. (TSX:NA). Down $3.43 or 3.5 per cent to $95.84. Shares in National Bank of Canada closed down Wednesday as it reported a rise in earnings and a boost to its dividend that came in below analyst expectations. The Montreal-based bank said it would boost its quarterly dividend by 23 per cent to 87 cents per share. The bank also said it would buy back up to seven million of its shares. The announcement follows a decision last month by the federal banking regulator to lift restrictions put in place at the start of the pandemic that prevented federally regulated banks and insurers from raising dividends, buying back shares and raising executive compensation. Laurent Ferreira, who stepped into the role of chief executive of National at the start of November, said on an analyst call that the bank is aiming for the lower end of its dividend range and maintaining a cautious approach on allowances for loan losses. Ferreira signalled a similarly cautious approach on its international operations, saying it's not looking for growth beyond its ABA Bank in Cambodia. Revenue was $2.2 billion, up from $2 billion a year ago, but higher expenses tempered the profit gains, as did lower revenue on the capital markets side. National's fourth-quarter income of $776 million was up from $492 million a year earlier, boosted by the increased revenue and reversals in provisions for loan losses.
Royal Bank of Canada. (TSX:RY). Down 56 cents to $125.74. Royal Bank of Canada raised its dividend Wednesday as it reported a rise in fourth-quarter profits from last year, though it said earnings were hit by lower margins in part from low interest rates and heightened competition. The bank said it will now pay a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, up 11 per cent from $1.08 per share, after the federal banking regulator lifted the restrictions it imposed on banks and insurers at the start of the pandemic on increasing payouts. RBC said it also plans to buy back up to 45 million shares, representing about three per cent of existing stock. The quarter saw mortgage activity reach new heights, with RBC boosting its total residential mortgage loans to $330 billion in the quarter ending Oct. 31, up 2.5 per cent from the previous quarter, 12.5 per cent from a year earlier, and up 25 per cent from the last quarter of 2019. Lower interest rates reduced the bank's revenue by about $1 billion a year for the past two years, mostly in Canadian banking and U.S. wealth management, while earnings were $3.9 billion for the quarter, up from $3.2 billion in the same quarter last year.
GFL Environmental Inc. (TSX:GFL). Down $2.10 or 4.3 per cent to $47.13. The Competition Bureau is challenging GFL Environmental Inc.'s purchase of Terrapure Environmental Inc. The regulator says Terrapure was GFL's closest competitor for industrial waste services and oil recycling services in markets in Western Canada. It says the deal has likely substantially lessened competition in the collection and processing of industrial waste on Vancouver Island, in the British Columbia Interior and in central Alberta. It also says the transaction is likely to reduce competition for oil recycling services in eight regions across British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The bureau has filed an application with the Competition Tribunal for a court order requiring GFL to sell any assets necessary to remedy the likely substantial lessening of competition. GFL announced a deal last March to buy the solid waste and environmental solutions business of Terrapure and its subsidiaries for about $927 million. The deal, which excluded Terrapure's battery recycling business, was completed on Aug. 17.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2021.
The Canadian Press
