Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 8.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 280,056 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,400 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $18,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,005,337 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,041,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,166 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 2nd quarter worth about $838,738,000. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 14,231,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $786,729,000 after buying an additional 90,158 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,148,255 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $726,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,979,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,088,450 shares of the bank’s stock worth $564,941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684,510 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

NYSE:BNS opened at $75.87 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $44.09 and a twelve month high of $78.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 10.60%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

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.