Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.00.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BNS. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter worth $30,000. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter worth $30,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS stock opened at $79.79 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.65 and a 200 day moving average of $72.87. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $51.00 and a 1 year high of $80.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 12.40%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current 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.