Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Price Target to $81.00

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $83.00 to $81.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 63.06% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research 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 research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS opened at $49.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $57.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.35. The company has a market cap of $61.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.07.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BNS. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 171.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,578 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter worth about $221,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 110.1% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 91,862 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,011,000 after acquiring an additional 48,147 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5,380.9% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,972,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $216,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,899,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 12.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,890 shares of the bank’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.