Raymond James & Associates Sells 10,549 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 22.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,561 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,549 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $1,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eldred Rock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter valued at $1,123,000. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,314 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 10,738 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 19,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,691,098 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,083,057,000 after acquiring an additional 725,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

NYSE:BNS opened at $46.62 on Thursday. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $39.79 and a 52 week high of $51.98. The firm has a market cap of $56.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.71% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.7843 per share. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.73%. This is a positive change from Bank of Nova Scotia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.96%.

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.