Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS stock opened at $56.45 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $70.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.05. Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $56.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.42.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released 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 return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a $0.768 dividend. 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 5.44%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,990,868 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,361,752,000 after buying an additional 2,195,604 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $690,438,000 after acquiring an additional 683,946 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,757,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $640,624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,346,995 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,074,518 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $550,729,000 after acquiring an additional 240,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,281,724 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $424,497,000 after acquiring an additional 57,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.