Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Has $428,000 Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,800 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BNS. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 25.6% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 574,571 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,983,000 after purchasing an additional 117,219 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.7% in the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,433,198 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,536,000 after purchasing an additional 101,860 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,194,388 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $368,423,000 after purchasing an additional 314,943 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,691,098 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,083,057,000 after purchasing an additional 725,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 858 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BNS stock opened at $46.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $56.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.93 and a 200-day moving average of $46.50. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $39.79 and a 12-month high of $51.98.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 10.71%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.7843 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. This is a positive change from Bank of Nova Scotia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.47%.

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.