Purpose Unlimited Inc. Invests $52.16 Million in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 707,198 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $52,158,000. Bank of Nova Scotia makes up approximately 2.4% of Purpose Unlimited Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.5% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 45,482 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,193 shares of the bank’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BNS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

NYSE:BNS opened at $87.16 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $106.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $53.74 and a twelve month high of $87.80.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.