Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on BNS. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $56.30 on Monday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $56.44. The company has a market cap of $70.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.46%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 74.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 536 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,588.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 861 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the period. City State Bank bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.