Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,046,439 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 206,093 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $150,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,237,537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,221,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169,073 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% during the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,745,356,000 after purchasing an additional 26,697,000 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 18,674,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,379,120,000 after purchasing an additional 310,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter worth about $1,368,456,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,259,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $923,232,000 after acquiring an additional 799,474 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $80.62 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.87. The company has a market cap of $98.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $53.52 and a fifty-two week high of $82.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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 report on Thursday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.