Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. Acquires New Shares in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. bought a new position in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,065 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,363,146 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,758,150,000 after acquiring an additional 969,488 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,966,078 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,017,933,000 after purchasing an additional 308,837 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $690,746,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,259,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $551,766,000 after purchasing an additional 184,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,096,123 shares of the bank’s stock worth $434,196,000 after buying an additional 385,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $50.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $62.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.21. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $43.68 and a 1-year high of $57.07.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.7415 per share. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 83.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on BNS shares. Cibc World Mkts lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 note on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

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.