Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,520 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,773 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $6,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 13.2% in the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 119,581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,291,000 after purchasing an additional 13,900 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 21.2% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 311,846 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,556,000 after buying an additional 54,593 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 18,565 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 63,864 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,429,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the period. Finally, Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $303,000. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on BNS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of BNS stock opened at $87.90 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $55.21 and a fifty-two week high of $90.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada’s largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank’s core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.