Ridgewood Investments LLC Sells 4,190 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Ridgewood Investments LLC lessened its position in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 62.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,570 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,190 shares during the quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BNS. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,990,868 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,361,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,195,604 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $690,438,000 after purchasing an additional 683,946 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,757,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $640,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,346,995 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNS has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $51.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.18. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $43.67 and a 1 year high of $57.07. The company has a market capitalization of $63.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.7535 per share. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.45%.

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.