Brokerages Set Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Target Price at $97.00

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $97.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% during the fourth 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 period. Canerector Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% during the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,745,356,000 after acquiring an additional 26,697,000 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 18,674,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,379,120,000 after acquiring an additional 310,564 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter valued at $1,368,456,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 14,231,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $786,729,000 after purchasing an additional 90,158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 1.7%

BNS stock opened at $75.87 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $44.09 and a one year high of $78.28. The stock has a market cap of $93.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 12.10%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

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

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.