JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Sells 56,047 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd cut its holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,685,074 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 56,047 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia accounts for 3.5% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $580,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $280,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 230.8% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 74,149 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after buying an additional 51,736 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,105 shares of the bank’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 383,460 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,671,000 after purchasing an additional 19,812 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BNS has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $52.44 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.90. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $39.79 and a 12-month high of $53.00. The company has a market capitalization of $64.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.768 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.86%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.72%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.