Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 47,862,189 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 891,157 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $2,478,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tobam increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.7% during the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 4,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 68,826 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,280,248 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,232,000 after acquiring an additional 33,490 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 141.7% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 38,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 22,561 shares during the period. Finally, Foguth Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 1st quarter valued at about $905,000. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BNS shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

BNS stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.74. 992,032 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,818,094. The company has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.04. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $39.79 and a 1 year high of $51.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be given a $0.769 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.82%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Profile

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.