JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lowered its stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,685,074 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 56,047 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia makes up 3.5% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned 1.03% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $580,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% in the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 136,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after acquiring an additional 14,379 shares during the last quarter. Tobam grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.7% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 4,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 141.7% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 38,482 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 22,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

NYSE:BNS opened at $52.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $64.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.04 and its 200-day moving average is $47.90. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $39.79 and a 1-year high of $53.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.768 dividend. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BNS shares. StockNews.com cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group started coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

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.