The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Receives $68.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.00.

BNS has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BNS. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 68,826 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,280,248 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,232,000 after acquiring an additional 33,490 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,691,098 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,083,057,000 after acquiring an additional 725,489 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 141.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 38,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 22,561 shares during the period. Finally, Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter worth about $905,000. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $45.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.64. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $39.79 and a 1-year high of $51.98.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.769 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 70.72%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.