Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Upgraded by UBS Group to "Buy" Rating

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BNS. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Bank of Nova Scotia stock traded up $1.31 on Monday, reaching $55.24. 1,725,538 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,788,404. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $41.80 and a twelve month high of $55.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.12. The stock has a market cap of $68.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,990,868 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,361,752,000 after buying an additional 2,195,604 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 16.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,015,877 shares of the bank's stock worth $881,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361,136 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank's stock worth $690,438,000 after purchasing an additional 683,946 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted 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 purchasing an additional 2,346,995 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,074,518 shares of the bank's stock worth $550,729,000 after buying an additional 240,803 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

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.