Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,800 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $1,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter valued at $104,000. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $56.46 on Friday. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $56.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $70.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.41.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

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.