The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$66.97.

A number of analysts have recently commented on BNS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$65.00 to C$67.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$63.00 to C$66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$64.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. CIBC dropped their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$66.00 to C$64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$69.00 to C$74.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of TSE BNS opened at C$64.13 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of C$54.29 and a 1 year high of C$70.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is C$66.44 and its 200 day moving average is C$63.08. The stock has a market capitalization of C$78.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported C$1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.61 by C$0.08. The company had revenue of C$8.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$8.12 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 26.75%. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.5706967 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is currently 69.39%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.