The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$93.85.

A number of brokerages have commented on BNS. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$95.00 to C$97.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. CIBC boosted their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$100.00 to C$103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$98.00 to C$100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Desjardins lifted their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$100.00 to C$104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a C$108.00 price target on Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

TSE:BNS opened at C$101.31 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of C$62.57 and a fifty-two week high of C$101.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$95.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$86.15. The company has a market capitalization of C$126.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported C$1.93 EPS for the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 17.68% and a return on equity of 9.64%. The company had revenue of C$9.77 billion for the quarter. Research analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 7.1286267 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is presently 76.19%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of Nova Scotia

In other Bank of Nova Scotia news, insider Julie Walsh sold 3,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$100.62, for a total value of C$373,903.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$143,886.60. This trade represents a 72.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia is a global financial services provider. The bank has five business segments: Canadian banking, international banking, global wealth management, global banking and markets, and other. It offers a range of advice, products, and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. The bank’s international operations span numerous countries and are more concentrated in Central and South America.