The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays began coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $45.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.61. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $39.79 and a 52 week high of $51.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.769 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.80%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BNS. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 45,169 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,335 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,252 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 12,929 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,497 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,145,226 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $321,731,000 after purchasing an additional 360,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,519,128 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $251,617,000 after purchasing an additional 184,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.