Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS Stock Purchased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 784,325 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 30,003 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.06% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $71,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,016,738,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter worth $709,837,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the second quarter worth $567,278,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the second quarter worth $416,397,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the second quarter valued at $354,379,000. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday, August 21st. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.50.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS opened at $93.30 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $92.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.94. The company has a market capitalization of $113.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $65.99 and a 12-month high of $96.85.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.11 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.91% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were given a C$1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.87%.

Bank of Nova Scotia declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, October 2nd that allows the company to buy back 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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