Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$101.33 and last traded at C$101.04, with a volume of 998068 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$100.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BNS. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$93.00 to C$99.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$78.00 to C$88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Raymond James Financial set a C$108.00 target price on Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Desjardins increased their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$100.00 to C$104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$98.00 to C$100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$93.85.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$125.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$94.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$85.75.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported C$1.93 EPS for the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 17.68% and a return on equity of 9.64%. The company had revenue of C$9.77 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 7.1286267 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 7th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of Nova Scotia

In other news, insider Julie Walsh sold 3,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$100.62, for a total value of C$373,903.92. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$143,886.60. This represents a 72.21% decrease in their position. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia is a global financial services provider. The bank has five business segments: Canadian banking, international banking, global wealth management, global banking and markets, and other. It offers a range of advice, products, and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. The bank’s international operations span numerous countries and are more concentrated in Central and South America.