Seeking Alpha: Still Waiting For A Little More Value At Canadian Western Bank

The last six months have gone more or less as I expected at Canadian Western Bank (OTCPK:CBWBF). I thought the valuation was a little steep last time around, and while the shares haven't done horribly (up about 4% before dividends), they've lagged other Canadian banks and significantly lagged the broader Canadian market. Unfortunately the story remains the same - I say "unfortunately" because I think Canadian Western is a really good bank and a great way to play ongoing growth in Western Canada, but I just don't see much undervaluation right now.

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Still Waiting For A Little More Value At Canadian Western Bank

Seeking Alpha: For One Of The Best Banks, Go North

It does interest me how sell-side analysts and investors will often overestimate the improvements to be had from inferior banks and simultaneously underrate the ability of banks who've established their excellence to keep the good numbers rolling. Such as that may be, it can work to investors' interests when it comes to Canada's 7th-largest bank, Canadian Western (OTCPK:CBWBF) (CWB.TO).

I'm certainly not going to argue that Canadian Western is obviously cheap - the stock trades at over 2x book value and about 30% above its traditional forward P/E. That said, those ratios don't always incorporate the superior record of profitability and returns at CWB, and I believe the shares are as of yet still somewhat undervalued. What's more, CWB is a good play both on the ongoing development of energy resources in Western Canada and a higher rate environment. I'd be tempted to wait in the hope of a pullback, but I've gone down that road before to my own detriment.

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For One Of The Best Banks, Go North

Investopedia: Scotiabank's Balanced Model Continues To Deliver

Each of the Canadian Big Five banks has its own strategy to diversify its growth outside of the Canadian banking market. In the case of Bank Of Nova Scotia (“Scotiabank”) (NYSE:BNS), that strategy revolves around building its high-growth Latin American banking business and it's less appreciated (but still lucrative) wealth management operations. Although investors should not underestimate the risk of a banking slowdown in Canada nor the inherent risks of emerging market banking, Scotiabank looks as though it may be a relative bargain in the banking sector.

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http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/052813/scotiabanks-balanced-model-continues-deliver-bns-c-bmo-bap-san-cm-n.aspx

Time To Act Locally On Global Payments?

Fishing for turnarounds is a little like fishing for sharks - get a bit careless and you could find yourself bitten. That is a good warning to keep in mind when perusing the recent earnings report and stock action from Global Payments (NYSE:GPN). While this leading transaction processing service company has a lot of value-type characteristics, its poor margin performance and questionable guidance are warning signs. 

The Quarter That Was
Global Payments certainly did blow away expectations this quarter. Total top line growth was about 7% for this fiscal first quarter, with strong results in the U.S. and Asia somewhat offsetting a pathetic performance in Canada and Europe. That is a feeble performance relative to the likes of Visa (NYSE:V) or Green Dot (Nasdaq:GDOT) (to be fair, these aren't entirely straight up comparisons).

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Time-To-Act-Locally-On-Global-Payments-GPN-V-GDOT-DFS-MA-CM-HPY1013.aspx