Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 21.9%, selling 1,774,407 shares to end up owning approximately 6.3 million shares.
• Goldman Sachs Group significantly increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 255.9%, now holding over 10 million shares worth approximately $482.59 million.
• Bank of Nova Scotia recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.7996 per share, up from the previous $0.74, reflecting a strong annualized dividend yield of 5.7%.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 21.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,321,716 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,774,407 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia comprises approximately 1.3% of Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.51% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $299,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% in 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 period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 374,487 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $670,495,000 after buying an additional 117,272 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 255.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,174,780 shares of the bank's stock worth $482,590,000 after buying an additional 7,315,915 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 0.3%

Bank of Nova Scotia stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.60. The stock had a trading volume of 556,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,990,974. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $44.09 and a 52-week high of $57.07. The firm has a market cap of $70.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $55.08 and a 200 day moving average of $51.43.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 8.83%. The firm had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.7996 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is a boost from Bank of Nova Scotia's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio is 94.72%.

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.