Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $94.96 and last traded at $95.12, with a volume of 283593 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $93.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BNS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Friday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 1.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $115.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.91% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The company had revenue of $7.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is presently 58.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BNS. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 18,674,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,379,120,000 after purchasing an additional 310,564 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter valued at $1,368,456,000. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 16,489,540 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,216,157,000 after purchasing an additional 5,461,052 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,259,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $923,232,000 after buying an additional 799,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,016,738,000. Institutional investors 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.