Brokerages Set The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Price Target at $72.00

Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BNS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Securities raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS stock opened at $55.83 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $57.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.06.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.7535 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.45%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,438,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $241,981,000 after acquiring an additional 660,097 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 136,337 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,235,000 after acquiring an additional 14,379 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2,455.8% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,521,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,360 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,563,594 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,201,000 after acquiring an additional 509,120 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,744,062 shares of the bank’s stock worth $204,214,000 after acquiring an additional 150,247 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.