Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia, acquiring 7,315,915 additional shares and raising its ownership to 10,174,780 shares, worth $482.59 million.
• Bank of Nova Scotia recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.74 to $0.7996 per share, representing a 5.7% yield, despite a high payout ratio of 94.72%.
• Wall Street analysts have a mixed view on Bank of Nova Scotia, with one downgrade to "sell" and a consensus rating of "hold," as the stock aims for an average target price of $81.00.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 255.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,174,780 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 7,315,915 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.82% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $482,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter valued at $96,529,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $53,362,000 after buying an additional 1,012,715 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter valued at $30,700,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,849,592 shares of the bank's stock valued at $206,325,000 after buying an additional 537,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 25,425,639 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,363,619,000 after buying an additional 434,771 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.99. 907,645 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,703,826. The business's 50-day moving average price is $54.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.37. 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 has a twelve month low of $44.09 and a twelve month high of $57.07. The company has a market capitalization of $69.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.14.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS 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 given a $0.7996 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. Bank of Nova Scotia's payout ratio is presently 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.