Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,334,685 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,078 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.11% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $71,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $690,746,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,990,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,361,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,195,604 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,433,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $406,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,700 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,363,146 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,758,150,000 after purchasing an additional 969,488 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 370.0% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 883,511 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,391,000 after purchasing an additional 695,519 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BNS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Down 3.0 %

BNS stock opened at $46.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $58.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12 month low of $43.68 and a 12 month high of $57.07.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.7415 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.32%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.77%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company 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.