Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lessened its holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 8.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,027 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,948 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $2,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter valued at $53,000. City State Bank bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BNS. TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $53.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.71. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $55.12. The stock has a market cap of $65.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.768 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.88%.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.