Marshall Wace LLP Trims Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Marshall Wace LLP cut its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 421,990 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 156,213 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $19,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 136,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after buying an additional 14,379 shares in the last quarter. Tobam lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.7% during the first quarter. Tobam now owns 4,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,280,248 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,232,000 after purchasing an additional 33,490 shares during the period. Prudential PLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 141.7% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 38,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 22,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foguth Wealth Management LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 1st quarter valued at $905,000. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $54.41 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.12. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $39.79 and a 52-week high of $55.12. The company has a market cap of $66.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.768 dividend. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.72%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets segments.