Citigroup Inc. Acquires 540,526 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 55.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,517,072 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 540,526 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $98,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BNS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter worth about $838,738,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 83.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,148,255 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $726,704,000 after buying an additional 5,979,338 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 44.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,800,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $635,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,007,407 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 555.8% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 3,062,126 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,984,000 after acquiring an additional 2,595,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 315.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,873,828 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,181,312 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $77.31 on Monday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $44.09 and a 1 year high of $78.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $95.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.11.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted 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. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The business had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 6th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 79.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of 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, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company 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.