Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Receives $97.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.00.

BNS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $76.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $44.09 and a 1-year high of $76.56.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 6th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,200,107 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,330,000 after purchasing an additional 44,316 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,439.7% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 108,750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,011,000 after buying an additional 101,687 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,803,000. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.9% in the second quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,188,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,755,000 after acquiring an additional 33,800 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,073.1% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,410,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada’s largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank’s core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.