Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $97.00.

BNS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BNS. Canerector Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,745,356,000 after purchasing an additional 26,697,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter worth $1,368,456,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 83.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,148,255 shares of the bank’s stock worth $726,704,000 after buying an additional 5,979,338 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 44.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,800,305 shares of the bank’s stock worth $635,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,007,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 555.8% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 3,062,126 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $168,984,000 after acquiring an additional 2,595,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $77.78 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $44.09 and a 12-month high of $78.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.68 and a 200 day moving average of $66.82.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The business had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 6th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 79.85%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

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.