Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 18,512,659 shares, an increase of 34.2% from the December 15th total of 13,794,839 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,092,334 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.8 days. Based on an average trading volume of 2,092,334 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.8 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,200,107 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,330,000 after buying an additional 44,316 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,439.7% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 108,750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,011,000 after acquiring an additional 101,687 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,803,000. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.9% in the second quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,188,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,755,000 after acquiring an additional 33,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,073.1% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,410,536 shares of the bank’s stock worth $77,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,300 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.38. 4,786,549 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,988,502. Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $44.09 and a twelve month high of $74.97. The firm has a market cap of $90.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 10.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada’s largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank’s core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.