Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,756 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 23,672 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $1,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BNS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,200,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,330,000 after acquiring an additional 44,316 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,439.7% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 108,750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,011,000 after purchasing an additional 101,687 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter valued at about $21,803,000. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.9% during the second quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,188,376 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,755,000 after buying an additional 33,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,073.1% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,410,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,840,000 after buying an additional 1,290,300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BNS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

BNS opened at $74.69 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $44.09 and a 52-week high of $76.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.60%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Profile

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada’s largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank’s core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.