Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd Buys Shares of 7,536 Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS)

Key Points

• Caitong International Asset Management has acquired 7,536 shares of the Bank of Nova Scotia, valued at approximately $357,000, as part of its investment strategy in the 1st quarter.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. significantly increased its holdings in the Bank of Nova Scotia by 255.9%, now owning over 10 million shares worth approximately $482 million.
• The Bank of Nova Scotia has recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.7996, yielding about 5.7%, while also reporting earnings that missed analysts' expectations.

Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,536 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $357,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 255.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,174,780 shares of the bank's stock worth $482,590,000 after acquiring an additional 7,315,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,821,025 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter valued at $96,529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 25.2% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,168,917 shares of the bank's stock valued at $340,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,441,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 907.4% in the first quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,124,324 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. One 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS stock opened at $56.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $70.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.14. Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of $44.09 and a one year high of $57.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $55.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.43.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.08). Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 2nd were paid a $0.7996 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 2nd. This is an increase from Bank of Nova Scotia's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.72%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company 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.

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