Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.00.

A number of research firms have issued reports on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Down 4.3%

NYSE BNS traded down $3.28 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $72.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 287,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,987,380. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $44.09 and a fifty-two week high of $78.28. The company has a market cap of $89.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.80.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 12.49%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,200,107 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,330,000 after acquiring an additional 44,316 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter valued at approximately $21,803,000. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.9% in the second quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,188,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,755,000 after purchasing an additional 33,800 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,073.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,290,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 315.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,873,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,014,000 after buying an additional 2,181,312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.