First Affirmative Financial Network Trims Holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

First Affirmative Financial Network cut its position in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,873 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,833 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,862,189 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,478,304,000 after purchasing an additional 891,157 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 16.1% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,015,877 shares of the bank’s stock worth $881,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361,136 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $690,438,000 after purchasing an additional 683,946 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 17.6% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 14,563,337 shares of the bank’s stock worth $753,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,281,724 shares of the bank’s stock worth $424,497,000 after buying an additional 57,796 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

NYSE:BNS opened at $52.45 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.33. The firm has a market cap of $64.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.05. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $39.79 and a 52-week high of $55.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.01. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.86%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BNS shares. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.00.

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.