Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 406,646 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 32.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,669,108 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 406,646 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $108,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 111.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,096 shares of the bank’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 10,056 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 2nd quarter valued at about $330,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,039 shares of the bank’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,200,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,330,000 after purchasing an additional 44,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the second quarter worth approximately $447,000. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS stock opened at $70.85 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.37. The firm has a market cap of $87.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12 month low of $44.09 and a 12 month high of $78.28.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Profile

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.