Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $87.94 and last traded at $87.5980, with a volume of 109014 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $87.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.02. The stock has a market cap of $107.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.12.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Canerector Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,745,356,000 after purchasing an additional 26,697,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter valued at $1,368,456,000. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 16,489,540 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,216,157,000 after purchasing an additional 5,461,052 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,120.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,556,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $262,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 3rd quarter worth about $138,394,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.