Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS Stock Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 167.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,451 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,739 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $6,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 784,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,491,000 after buying an additional 30,003 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 12.7% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,901 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the third quarter worth $269,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 16,836 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 6.6% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,414 shares of the bank’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BNS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. TD raised Bank of Nova Scotia to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Friday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. National Bank Financial raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.50.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:BNS opened at $93.30 on Tuesday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $65.99 and a 52 week high of $96.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $92.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $113.43 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.11 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.91% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were paid a C$1.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.87%.

Bank of Nova Scotia declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, October 2nd that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Bank of Nova Scotia