The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 106,397 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,273 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $5,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter worth about $700,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 71,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 574,571 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,983,000 after acquiring an additional 117,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,433,198 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,536,000 after acquiring an additional 101,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BNS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays began coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $47.43. 1,092,477 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,059,074. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $39.79 and a fifty-two week high of $51.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $48.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.05.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.01 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 10.71%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were given a $0.7843 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. This is a positive change from Bank of Nova Scotia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.47%.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.