Intact Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,212,180 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Key Points

• Intact Investment Management cut its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 73.7%, selling 1,212,180 shares in Q4 and now holding 433,662 shares worth about $31.98 million (0.9% of its portfolio).
• Scotiabank beat expectations for the quarter with $1.48 EPS versus $1.42 expected and revenue of $7.40B versus $6.99B, while the stock has a market cap of ~$95.9B and a consensus price target of $106 (average rating: Hold).
• Other institutional moves include Vanguard owning 57.24M shares (~$4.22B) and Canerector increasing its stake to 26.997M shares (an 8,899% rise); overall ~49.13% of the stock is held by institutions.

Intact Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 73.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 433,662 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,212,180 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia comprises 0.9% of Intact Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $31,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Canerector Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8,899.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 26,997,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,745,356,000 after acquiring an additional 26,697,000 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 44.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,800,305 shares of the bank's stock valued at $635,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,007,407 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the third quarter valued at approximately $138,394,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 30.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,690,883 shares of the bank's stock valued at $497,197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,237,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,221,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169,073 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $78.04 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average is $72.67 and its 200-day moving average is $71.65. The stock has a market cap of $95.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.13. Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $78.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $97.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.00.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly known as Scotiabank, is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company founded in 1832 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of Canada's largest banks and provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. The bank combines a domestic Canadian franchise with an extensive international presence to serve customers across multiple markets.

Scotiabank's core activities include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, and global transaction banking.

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