Ruggaard & Associates LLC Invests $741,000 in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Ruggaard & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,530 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $741,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BNS. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 111.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,096 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 10,056 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 2nd quarter worth about $330,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 42.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 21,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 61.1% during the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 66,962 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,701,000 after acquiring an additional 25,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.7%

BNS opened at $92.97 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $61.69 and a one year high of $94.96. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $88.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 13.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.06 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is currently 58.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BNS. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.00.

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.