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

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.00.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BNS. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% in the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 136,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after buying an additional 14,379 shares during the last quarter. Tobam increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.7% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 4,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2,455.8% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,521,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,360 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $690,438,000 after purchasing an additional 683,946 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 68,826 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS stock opened at $54.49 on Tuesday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $39.79 and a one year high of $55.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.64%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.72%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets segments.