MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Buys New Shares in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 42,779 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,215,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 68,826 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,280,248 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,232,000 after buying an additional 33,490 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,691,098 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,083,057,000 after buying an additional 725,489 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 141.7% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 38,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,873,000 after buying an additional 22,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 1st quarter worth about $905,000. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS stock opened at $45.80 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12 month low of $39.79 and a 12 month high of $51.98. The firm has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.65.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.769 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.