Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Lowers Stake in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. cut its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,055,946 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 55,602 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia accounts for 3.7% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned 0.17% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $132,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BNS. Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.2% in the third quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 286,820 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,549,000 after purchasing an additional 8,841 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 16.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 450,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,153,000 after purchasing an additional 64,575 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2,995.9% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 4,489 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 4,344 shares in the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 100.6% during the third quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 123,615 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,045,000 after purchasing an additional 61,985 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 89,110 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,761,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNS has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 1.3%

BNS opened at $75.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $44.09 and a 1-year high of $78.28.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 12.40%.The business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 7th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.74%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company 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.