Barclays PLC Grows Position in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 59.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 343,006 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 128,049 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC's holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $18,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,760 shares of the bank's stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,700 shares of the bank's stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 42,088 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,257,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,716,000. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 14,557 shares of the bank's stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cibc World Mkts lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, CIBC reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.1 %

BNS stock traded down $0.05 on Friday, reaching $48.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 389,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,688,426. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.41. The firm has a market cap of $60.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.02. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $43.68 and a 12-month high of $57.07.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.7415 per share. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia's payout ratio is 83.05%.

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.