Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,447,941 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 584,126 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia accounts for about 1.2% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.77% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $696,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

BNS stock opened at $84.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $53.74 and a 1 year high of $84.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $77.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.36.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 13.38%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BNS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.