Brokerages Set The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) PT at $69.00

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.00.

Several equities analysts recently commented on BNS shares. TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 536 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,588.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 861 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the first quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, City State Bank acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter worth about $57,000. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock traded down $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $53.58. 773,745 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,796,241. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05. 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 quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.768 per share. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.88%.

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.