Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $1.72 Million in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 31,940 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,716,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,990,868 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,361,752,000 after buying an additional 2,195,604 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 10.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,640,471 shares of the bank's stock valued at $310,817,000 after acquiring an additional 524,496 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,551,000. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 38,283.3% in the 4th quarter. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. now owns 476,721 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,586,000 after purchasing an additional 475,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,363,000. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BNS. Bank of America downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, CIBC restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.00.

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Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BNS traded down $1.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.92. The company had a trading volume of 3,802,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,673,873. The stock has a market cap of $58.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.16. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $43.68 and a one year high of $57.07.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.7415 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.77%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.