The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Shares Bought by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,890 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 536 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the first quarter worth approximately $53,000. City State Bank bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS stock opened at $51.90 on Monday. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $41.46 and a one year high of $55.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.768 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.92%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is 74.88%.

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.