Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Upgraded at TD Securities

TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Separately, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $53.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $65.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $55.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.74.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.768 per share. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 536 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,000. City State Bank purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.