Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Lowers Holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lowered its position in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 13.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,000,000 shares of the bank's stock after selling 300,000 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia accounts for approximately 10.0% of Nicola Wealth Management LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. owned 0.16% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $108,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5,380.9% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,972,234 shares of the bank's stock worth $216,447,000 after purchasing an additional 3,899,760 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 2nd quarter worth $120,463,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $881,082,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361,136 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 17.6% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 14,563,337 shares of the bank's stock worth $753,658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178,633 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in 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 valued at $69,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,360 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BNS. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.5 %

BNS traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.84. The company had a trading volume of 987,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,583. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $41.80 and a 1-year high of $55.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.84 and a 200-day moving average of $48.99.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.71%. Bank of Nova Scotia's payout ratio is presently 74.88%.

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.