Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $13.13 Million Stake in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,112 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 15,405 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $13,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter valued at about $838,738,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,148,255 shares of the bank’s stock worth $726,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,979,338 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 555.8% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 3,062,126 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,984,000 after purchasing an additional 2,595,186 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 315.0% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,873,828 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,014,000 after buying an additional 2,181,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,005,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,041,575,000 after buying an additional 1,821,166 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:BNS opened at $73.38 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $44.09 and a 12-month high of $74.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.13 and a 200-day moving average of $64.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $90.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 10.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.60%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Profile

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.