Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.00.

BNS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

NYSE BNS opened at $66.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $44.09 and a fifty-two week high of $68.10.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.5% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 58,073 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 168,186 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,977,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 235.5% in the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 18,268 shares of the bank’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 12,823 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 56,446 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.