Ballentine Partners LLC Increases Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 45.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,868 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BNS. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 68,826 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,280,248 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,232,000 after purchasing an additional 33,490 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,691,098 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,083,057,000 after purchasing an additional 725,489 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 141.7% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 38,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,873,000 after buying an additional 22,561 shares during the period. Finally, Eldred Rock Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 96.8% in the 1st quarter. Eldred Rock Partners LLC now owns 45,411 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,351,000 after buying an additional 22,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Monday, hitting $45.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 103,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,668. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $39.79 and a 52 week high of $51.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.64. The company has a market capitalization of $56.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.05.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Equities research analysts predict that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.769 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BNS. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays began coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

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.