Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Reaches New 1-Year High at $54.74

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $54.74 and last traded at $54.74, with a volume of 160305 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $53.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BNS shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.04. The firm has a market cap of $67.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.60%. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Tobam raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.7% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 4,130 shares of the bank's stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $69,627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,360 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 68,826 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,280,248 shares of the bank's stock worth $111,232,000 after purchasing an additional 33,490 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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