Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 77,820 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,095,285 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,820 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $58,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,990,868 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,361,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,195,604 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,757,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $640,624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,346,995 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,259,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $551,766,000 after acquiring an additional 184,761 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,640,471 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $310,817,000 after acquiring an additional 524,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 260.1% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 5,480,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $298,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,958,580 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BNS. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $48.55 on Wednesday. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $57.07. The firm has a market cap of $60.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.45 and a 200 day moving average of $52.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.7415 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is currently 82.20%.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.