The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 1st

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.7415 per share by the bank on Monday, April 28th. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st.

Bank of Nova Scotia has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Bank of Nova Scotia has a payout ratio of 53.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Bank of Nova Scotia to earn $5.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.3%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $47.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $49.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.33. The company has a market cap of $59.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $43.68 and a 12-month high of $57.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

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.