Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$102.02 and last traded at C$101.53, with a volume of 1068362 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$101.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities lifted their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$93.00 to C$99.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$93.00 to C$98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$98.00 to C$100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a C$108.00 price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$100.00 to C$103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$93.85.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of C$96.27 and a 200 day moving average of C$86.91. The stock has a market capitalization of C$126.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported C$1.93 EPS for the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 17.68%.The business had revenue of C$9.77 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 7.1286267 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Walsh sold 3,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$100.62, for a total transaction of C$373,903.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$143,886.60. The trade was a 72.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia is a global financial services provider. The bank has five business segments: Canadian banking, international banking, global wealth management, global banking and markets, and other. It offers a range of advice, products, and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. The bank’s international operations span numerous countries and are more concentrated in Central and South America.