Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases New Shares in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS – Get Rating) (TSE:BNS) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 11,742 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 59.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 26,438 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,896,000 after buying an additional 9,818 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the first quarter worth $366,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 56.3% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,272 shares of the bank’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 10.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 870,918 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,462,000 after buying an additional 81,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.19% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

NYSE BNS opened at C$51.67 on Friday. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of C$45.26 and a one year high of C$74.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$50.39 and a 200 day moving average of C$52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of C$61.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.98.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS – Get Rating) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 29th. The bank reported C$1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.49 by C$0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of C$5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.756 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 3rd. This represents a $3.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.85%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 48.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BNS has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$83.50 to C$81.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$89.77.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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