Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Coverage Initiated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 2.0%

BNS stock traded up $1.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.17. The company had a trading volume of 75,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,382,173. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $56.55 and a 52 week high of $92.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.51 and a 200 day moving average of $79.52. The company has a market cap of $107.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 13.38%.The business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 111.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,096 shares of the bank’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 10,056 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter worth about $330,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 42.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,212 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 61.1% during the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 66,962 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after buying an additional 25,400 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.