Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.5%, now owning 53,184,171 shares valued at approximately $2.52 billion.
• Bank of Nova Scotia recently announced a dividend increase, raising its quarterly dividend to $0.7996 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.7%.
• The bank reported earnings of $1.06 per share for the latest quarter, missing expectations, with revenues of $6.59 billion, compared to a consensus estimate of $8.98 billion.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,184,171 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 1,821,025 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 4.27% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $2,521,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank increased 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 valued at $1,363,619,000 after acquiring an additional 434,771 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% during 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. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 14,141,532 shares of the bank's stock worth $670,495,000 after purchasing an additional 117,272 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 255.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,174,780 shares of the bank's stock worth $482,590,000 after purchasing an additional 7,315,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,509,995 shares of the bank's stock worth $242,505,000 after purchasing an additional 71,866 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $55.99 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $54.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.37. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $44.09 and a 12-month high of $57.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd were paid a $0.7996 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 2nd. 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 yield of 5.7%. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.

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