Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 34,478 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Shell Asset Management Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 56.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,031 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 34,478 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $1,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 111.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,096 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 10,056 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter valued at approximately $330,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 15.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,084 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.7% during the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 17,116 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the second quarter worth $498,000. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS opened at $75.72 on Monday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $44.09 and a fifty-two week high of $78.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.01 and a 200 day moving average of $67.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $93.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th were given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.85%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada’s largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank’s core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.