Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BNS. 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. TD Securities raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BNS opened at $56.45 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $41.80 and a 52-week high of $56.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.43.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were given a $0.768 dividend. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% in the 2nd 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. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,588.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company 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.