The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Short Interest Down 9.9% in October

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,510,000 shares, a drop of 9.9% from the September 30th total of 34,990,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 19.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BNS. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 536 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter worth about $53,000. City State Bank purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $51.50 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.56. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $40.21 and a 52-week high of $55.12. The firm has a market cap of $63.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.05. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a $0.768 dividend. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.88%.

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.