36,095 Shares in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Acquired by ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has acquired 36,095 shares of Bank of Nova Scotia, valued at approximately $1.7 million, during the 1st quarter as per their Form 13F filing.
• Bank of Nova Scotia's shares have been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" by Wall Street Zen, with the current consensus rating at "Hold" and a price target of $81.00.
• The bank recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.7996 per share, resulting in a 5.7% yield and a payout ratio of 94.72%.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 36,095 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,711,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter valued at $52,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 38.4% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,175 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter valued at about $81,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter valued at about $95,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter valued at about $174,000. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $81.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 0.1%

BNS traded up $0.07 on Monday, hitting $56.07. The company had a trading volume of 967,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,005,593. The company has a market cap of $69.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.14. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $44.09 and a 12-month high of $57.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $54.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.37.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.7996 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of Nova Scotia's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia's payout ratio is currently 94.72%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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.