Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 5,152,371 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund reduced its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 35.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,410,966 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,152,371 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia comprises approximately 1.2% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.77% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $430,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 72,474 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,281,724 shares of the bank's stock valued at $424,497,000 after acquiring an additional 57,796 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 212.7% in the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,003 shares of the bank's stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 8,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank's stock valued at $690,438,000 after acquiring an additional 683,946 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Bank of Nova Scotia stock traded down $1.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,547,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,871,921. The stock has a market cap of $65.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50 day moving average is $49.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.16. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $39.79 and a 1 year high of $55.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.768 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on BNS shares. 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. UBS Group started coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.00.

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.