Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $117.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BNS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter worth $30,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter worth $35,000. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $81.65 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.18. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $53.72 and a 52-week high of $82.22. The firm has a market cap of $100.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 13.38%.The company had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Bank of Nova Scotia’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.