TD Bank's Surprising Surge Since Pleading Guilty A Year Ago

It was on Oct. 10, 2024, when investors learned that top Canadian bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD)(NYSE:TD) was being hit with massive fines in a U.S. anti-money laundering case, after pleading guilty to multiple charges. Having to pay more than $3 billion USD fines and having U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland say that TD“allowed financial crime to flourish” may have seemed like it should have crippled the stock, especially with limits put in place on the bank's growth in the U.S. market.

And yet, nearly a year later, shares of TD are up around 30%. As bad as the news may have appeared to have been around the time, you would have been up big if you invested in the stock back then. And that's because while the news may have sounded alarming and concerning at the time, it didn't impact the dividend, or even the long-term stability of the company, because its financials are so strong.

Economic conditions haven't been looking all that great due to tariffs and trade wars, and so TD may have faced challenges in growing its operations south of the border, anyway. And the core fundamentals about its operations didn't change, either. It was and still is one of the top banks in North America, and investors primarily look to its stock for stability and dividends. Even today, with its share price rising significantly over the past 12 months, it continues to offer a high yield of around 3.8%.

If you're a dividend investor, this can still make for an attractive income investment to hang on to. TD has paid dividends going back to 1857 and it's likely to remain a top income stock for the foreseeable future.

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