Portland Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases New Shares in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Portland Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 37,800 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,286,000. Bank of Nova Scotia comprises about 0.9% of Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 111.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,096 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 10,056 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 2nd quarter worth about $330,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 66,962 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after buying an additional 25,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS opened at $87.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $106.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.58 and a 200 day moving average of $79.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $56.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BNS shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.00.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada’s largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank’s core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.