Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Stake in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 763,160 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,794 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $52,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 30.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,690,883 shares of the bank’s stock worth $497,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,608 shares during the last quarter. Canerector Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% during the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,745,356,000 after purchasing an additional 26,697,000 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 285,843 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,109,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the period. HAP Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,926,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 32.2% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,669,108 shares of the bank’s stock worth $108,149,000 after buying an additional 406,646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

BNS opened at $86.61 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $106.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $54.29 and a 1-year high of $87.97.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.