Duality Advisers LP Acquires Shares of 74,661 The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 74,661 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,866,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BNS. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 19,395 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 3,735 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 111,564 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,773,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 144,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,492,000 after acquiring an additional 9,532 shares during the last quarter. Tobam grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 18.0% during the first quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 10,381 shares of the bank’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.6 %

Bank of Nova Scotia stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.17. 1,389,689 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,920,679. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $39.79 and a twelve month high of $51.98. The company has a market cap of $58.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.81 and a 200-day moving average of $47.58.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 10.40%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.769 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.52%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.82%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.