APG Asset Management N.V. Lowers Stock Position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Key Points

• APG Asset Management N.V. reduced its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5%, selling 10,400 shares and now owning approximately 0.05% of the company valued at $29.2 million.
• Bank of Nova Scotia faced a downgrade from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, amidst mixed analyst ratings that include four "buy" ratings and five "hold" ratings.
• The bank declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.7996, which translates to an annualized dividend of $3.20 and a yield of 5.5%, despite a high payout ratio of 94.72%.

APG Asset Management N.V. lessened its position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 666,304 shares of the bank's stock after selling 10,400 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.05% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $29,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BNS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,184,171 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,521,621,000 after buying an additional 1,821,025 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 25,425,639 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,363,619,000 after buying an additional 434,771 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,717,286 shares of the bank's stock worth $840,331,000 after buying an additional 362,572 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,158,112 shares of the bank's stock worth $718,670,000 after purchasing an additional 374,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 14,141,532 shares of the bank's stock valued at $670,495,000 after buying an additional 117,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BNS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:BNS traded up $0.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $62.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,715,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,998,835. The firm's fifty day moving average is $55.87 and its 200 day moving average is $51.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $44.09 and a 52 week high of $62.45. The stock has a market cap of $77.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.29 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.