Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Purchases 16,743 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 474,559 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 16,743 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $25,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,363,146 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,758,150,000 after purchasing an additional 969,488 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in 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 worth $1,361,752,000 after buying an additional 2,195,604 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,966,078 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,017,933,000 after buying an additional 308,837 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter valued at about $690,746,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,259,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $551,766,000 after acquiring an additional 184,761 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

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Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

NYSE:BNS traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $46.02. 639,136 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,688,388. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $48.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $43.68 and a one year high of $57.07. The firm has a market cap of $57.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.02.

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 issued a $0.7415 dividend. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio is 82.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. CIBC reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $81.00.

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.