Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Has $190.17 Million Stake in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS)

Key Points

• Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.8%, owning approximately 4.0% of the bank's stock, which amounts to about $190.17 million.
• Bank of Nova Scotia's recent earnings report revealed an EPS of $1.06, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.14, while the bank's revenue was significantly below estimates at $6.59 billion.
• The bank announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.7996, representing an annualized yield of 5.72%, up from its previous dividend of $0.74.

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,011,525 shares of the bank's stock after selling 115,845 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia comprises about 4.0% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $190,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,801 shares of the bank's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,155,791 shares of the bank's stock valued at $54,819,000 after buying an additional 60,506 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,938 shares of the bank's stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 54.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,629 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,634 shares of the bank's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:BNS traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $55.66. 2,187,432 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,832,024. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $43.67 and a fifty-two week high of $57.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.12.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.59 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.7996 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Nova Scotia's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 2nd. 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 presently 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.