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

Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$76.45.

BNS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$83.00 to C$81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Cibc World Mkts lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$76.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from C$82.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, TD Securities set a C$81.00 price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of BNS stock opened at C$71.97 on Thursday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of C$60.68 and a 12-month high of C$80.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$67.96 and a 200-day moving average of C$72.46. The company has a market capitalization of C$88.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.97.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.00%.

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.