UBS Group Upgrades Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) to Strong-Buy

UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS - Free Report) NYSE: BNS from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BNS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Cormark cut their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$68.00 to C$65.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$80.00 to C$82.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$72.00 to C$84.00 in a research note on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$73.75.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

BNS stock traded down C$0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching C$78.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,205,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,252,775. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of C$56.83 and a 1 year high of C$78.99. The firm has a market capitalization of C$97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$72.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$67.29.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS - Get Free Report) NYSE: BNS last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported C$1.63 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$1.63. The company had revenue of C$8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$8.50 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 25.38% and a return on equity of 9.49%. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 7.1286267 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.41%. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.26%.

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.