Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Bank of America currently has C$90.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of C$73.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on BNS. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$62.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. CIBC raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from C$71.00 to C$84.00 in a report on Tuesday. Cormark lowered their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$68.00 to C$65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$72.00 to C$84.00 in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$74.75.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of TSE BNS opened at C$78.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$73.29 and a 200-day moving average of C$67.50. The stock has a market capitalization of C$97.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.97. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of C$56.83 and a fifty-two week high of C$79.16.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported C$1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$1.63. The firm had revenue of C$8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$8.50 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 25.38% and a return on equity of 9.49%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 7.1286267 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 74.26%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets segments.