Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Stock Rating Lowered by Canaccord Genuity Group

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

NYSE BNS opened at $71.54 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $44.09 and a 1-year high of $78.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.47.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 12.40%.The business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 17,740 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 4,264 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,641,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,032,000 after buying an additional 99,800 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 4th quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,611 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.