Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Bank of America

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 note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. TD Securities raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BNS opened at $56.12 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $41.80 and a twelve month high of $56.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.15 and its 200-day moving average is $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during 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%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.47%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 65.9% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 42,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 16,700 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 177.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 40,714 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 26,036 shares in the last quarter. Natixis boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 166.3% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 48,394 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,504,000 after purchasing an additional 30,219 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 22.9% during the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 124,146 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,428,000 after purchasing an additional 23,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.