Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 1,063,127 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,068,464 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,063,127 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $3,625,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 19,968 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 56,653 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,663,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 33,752 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after buying an additional 2,265 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,575,602 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,903,000 after buying an additional 165,066 shares during the period. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 280,056 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,113,000 after buying an additional 22,400 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BNS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $75.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $44.09 and a 12-month high of $78.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.59.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 10.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 6th were given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.85%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Profile

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.