Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 7,023,314 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 237% from the previous session’s volume of 2,081,564 shares.The stock last traded at $70.3640 and had previously closed at $70.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $86.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.19 and a 200 day moving average of $70.29.

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

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,073.1% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,410,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,840,000 after buying an additional 1,290,300 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 315.0% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,873,828 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,181,312 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 13.1% in the third quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 1,094,330 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,748,000 after purchasing an additional 126,409 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 55.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,517,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $98,118,000 after purchasing an additional 540,526 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 50.7% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,645,842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,435,000 after purchasing an additional 553,720 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by 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.