Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS Shares Bought by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 8.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 280,056 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,400 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $18,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,304.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 783 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,543 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $75.87 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $44.09 and a 1 year high of $78.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.96. The company has a market capitalization of $93.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 10.60%.The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Bank of Nova Scotia’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is presently 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.