The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) is Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Portland Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 413,029 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,362 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia comprises about 8.1% of Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $22,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $690,438,000 after buying an additional 683,946 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 24.9% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,757,961 shares of the bank’s stock worth $640,624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,346,995 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,074,518 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $550,729,000 after purchasing an additional 240,803 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,281,724 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $424,497,000 after purchasing an additional 57,796 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 17.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,438,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $241,981,000 after purchasing an additional 660,097 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BNS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $57.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $57.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.71.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.