First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Cuts Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lessened its stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,285 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 858 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 919 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Motco boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,086.2% in the third quarter. Motco now owns 2,491 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:BNS opened at $47.13 on Wednesday. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $39.79 and a one year high of $51.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 10.71%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.9 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.7843 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Nova Scotia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.66%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.47%.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.