APG Asset Management N.V. Acquires 94,759 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 211.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,671 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 94,759 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V.'s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $5,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,862,189 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,478,304,000 after purchasing an additional 891,157 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 16.1% during 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 buying an additional 2,361,136 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in 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 valued at $753,658,000 after buying an additional 2,178,633 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,693,115 shares of the bank's stock valued at $424,515,000 after buying an additional 498,727 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,004,496 shares of the bank's stock valued at $207,349,000 after buying an additional 277,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BNS shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

NYSE:BNS traded up $0.05 on Monday, reaching $54.49. 8,702,554 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,858,781. 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 firm has a market cap of $67.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.04. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $39.79 and a 52 week high of $55.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.13.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.64%. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.72%.

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.