The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,260,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the December 15th total of 23,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 21.6 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BNS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays raised Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Securities raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 1.6 %

BNS stock traded down $0.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.86. The company had a trading volume of 2,218,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,873. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.37. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $57.07. The stock has a market cap of $63.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.08.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a $0.7535 dividend. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.29%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 1,175,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,134,000 after purchasing an additional 44,692 shares during the period. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 38,283.3% during the 4th quarter. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. now owns 476,721 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,586,000 after buying an additional 475,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the bank’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 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.