PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 48.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,100 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,590 shares during the quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $2,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,155,791 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,819,000 after purchasing an additional 60,506 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 159.3% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 39,955 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 24,547 shares during the last quarter. Genus Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 198.5% in the first quarter. Genus Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,050 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 48,470 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter worth about $856,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.8% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 67,240 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,063 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BNS. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $66.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.73. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $44.09 and a 1 year high of $66.70.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.29 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 9.74%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company 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.