The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Shares Sold by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC lowered its position in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,308 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,462 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% in 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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. City State Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 1.3 %

Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $51.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $63.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.05. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $39.79 and a 1 year high of $55.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.48.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.93%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BNS. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.00.

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.