Analysts Set The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Price Target at $69.00

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 0.2 %

Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $53.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $66.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $55.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.02.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were given a $0.768 dividend. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% during the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 136,337 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,235,000 after buying an additional 14,379 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2,455.8% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,521,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,627,000 after buying an additional 1,462,360 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 48.3% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,563,594 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,201,000 after buying an additional 509,120 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $690,438,000 after buying an additional 683,946 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 5,380.9% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,972,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $216,447,000 after buying an additional 3,899,760 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.