The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Receives $75.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.00.

BNS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BNS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,363,146 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,758,150,000 after acquiring an additional 969,488 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 25,425,639 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,363,619,000 after purchasing an additional 434,771 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,966,078 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,017,933,000 after acquiring an additional 308,837 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $690,746,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake 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 worth $640,624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,346,995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $48.07 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $50.21 and its 200-day moving average is $52.41. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12 month low of $43.68 and a 12 month high of $57.07. The firm has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.11. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.7415 per share. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.77%.

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.