SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS – Get Rating) (TSE:BNS) by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,924 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,866 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 18,508,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,097,920,000 after buying an additional 2,289,163 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,996,068 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,940,238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320,299 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 64.1% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,662,056 shares of the bank’s stock worth $98,410,000 after purchasing an additional 649,476 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,507,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,538,000 after purchasing an additional 420,045 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,380,683 shares of the bank’s stock worth $318,590,000 after purchasing an additional 411,905 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.19% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS stock opened at C$51.90 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$50.39 and a 200 day moving average price of C$52.76. The firm has a market capitalization of C$61.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.98. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of C$45.26 and a 52-week high of C$74.86.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 4th will be given a dividend of $0.756 per share. This represents a $3.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 3rd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Profile

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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.