Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Sells 31,190 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 20.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 123,436 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 31,190 shares during the quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $11,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,366.7% during the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $96,000. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $93.30 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.94. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $65.99 and a 52 week high of $96.85. The company has a market capitalization of $113.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.11. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 13.91%. The firm had revenue of $7.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, October 2nd that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th were issued a C$1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is currently 57.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. TD raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.50.

About Bank of Nova Scotia