Hexagon Capital Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 20.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,812 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 826 shares during the quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,971,032 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,287,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,934 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,841,901 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $970,577,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,541 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter worth about $652,409,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.4% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 13,387,765 shares of the bank’s stock worth $600,211,000 after purchasing an additional 183,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 13,163,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $643,900,000 after acquiring an additional 542,398 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.6 %

BNS opened at $45.46 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.04. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $39.79 and a 1-year high of $51.98.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 10.40%. Analysts expect that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.769 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BNS. UBS Group began coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.