Cerity Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 67.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,595 shares of the bank's stock after selling 35,129 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% in 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 grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2,455.8% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,521,906 shares of the bank's stock worth $69,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,360 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,563,594 shares of the bank's stock valued at $85,201,000 after buying an additional 509,120 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,744,062 shares of the bank's stock valued at $204,214,000 after buying an additional 150,247 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank's stock worth $690,438,000 after acquiring an additional 683,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BNS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of BNS traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $55.77. 1,283,546 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,756,315. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $43.67 and a 1 year high of $57.07. The firm's fifty day moving average is $53.90 and its 200-day moving average is $49.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.7535 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. Bank of Nova Scotia's payout ratio is 72.45%.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.