Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.6% in the first quarter, holding about 6.0 million shares worth roughly $416.4 million.
• The bank reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting EPS of $1.47 versus estimates of $1.42 and revenue of $7.24 billion, up 8.3% year over year.
• Bank of Nova Scotia shares were trading around $87.41, near their 52-week high, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $117.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,008,689 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 154,541 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.49% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $416,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,368,456,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 16,489,540 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,216,157,000 after acquiring an additional 5,461,052 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,120.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,556,295 shares of the bank's stock valued at $262,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445,856 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter valued at approximately $138,394,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter worth $121,032,000. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BNS opened at $87.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $55.21 and a one year high of $90.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.26.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 13.38%.The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Bank of Nova Scotia's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.00.

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.

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