Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 12,954 The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 12,954 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,971,032 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,287,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,934 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,841,901 shares of the bank’s stock worth $970,577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,541 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $652,409,000. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.4% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 13,387,765 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $600,211,000 after buying an additional 183,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 13,163,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $643,900,000 after buying an additional 542,398 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BNS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE BNS opened at $45.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.64. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $39.79 and a twelve month high of $51.98.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.769 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.75%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.14%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets segments.