Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Upgraded by Bank of America to “Buy” Rating

Bank of America upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

BNS has been the subject of several other reports. 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. UBS Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $56.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $70.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $53.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $56.71.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were given a dividend of $0.768 per share. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 74.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 136,337 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,235,000 after acquiring an additional 14,379 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2,455.8% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,521,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,360 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,563,594 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,201,000 after acquiring an additional 509,120 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $690,438,000 after acquiring an additional 683,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5,380.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,972,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $216,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,899,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.