First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 12.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 742,957 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 109,710 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.06% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $48,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BNS. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,304.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 783 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 27.4% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,543 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

BNS opened at $71.31 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.48. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $44.09 and a 1 year high of $78.28. The stock has a market cap of $87.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BNS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada’s largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank’s core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.