Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Stock Holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 22.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,141 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,744 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $6,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BNS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,971,032 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,287,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,934 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,841,901 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $970,577,000 after buying an additional 3,731,541 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $652,409,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.4% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 13,387,765 shares of the bank’s stock worth $600,211,000 after acquiring an additional 183,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 13,163,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $643,900,000 after acquiring an additional 542,398 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BNS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

NYSE:BNS traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $45.37. 146,176 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,925,063. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.86 and its 200-day moving average is $47.62. The stock has a market cap of $55.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.04. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $39.79 and a 1-year high of $51.98.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.769 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.78%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.37%.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.