Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $78.28 and last traded at $77.1780, with a volume of 1378335 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.89. The company has a market capitalization of $95.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The business had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,237,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,221,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169,073 shares during the last quarter. Canerector Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,745,356,000 after purchasing an additional 26,697,000 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 18,674,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,379,120,000 after purchasing an additional 310,564 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter worth about $1,368,456,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% during the second quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 14,231,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $786,729,000 after buying an additional 90,158 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company 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.