Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BNS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of BNS opened at $67.73 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.10. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $44.09 and a 12-month high of $78.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,237,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,221,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169,073 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% during the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,745,356,000 after purchasing an additional 26,697,000 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings 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 worth $1,379,120,000 after purchasing an additional 310,564 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,368,456,000. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.5% in 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. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

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.