Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Decreases Holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. reduced its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 227,100 shares of the bank's stock after selling 38,100 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $10,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter valued at $690,746,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,529,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,433,171 shares of the bank's stock valued at $406,103,000 after buying an additional 1,792,700 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,363,146 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,758,150,000 after acquiring an additional 969,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,582,696 shares of the bank's stock worth $138,689,000 after acquiring an additional 708,999 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BNS shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Down 0.1%

BNS stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.24. 990,697 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,727,419. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.13. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $43.68 and a 1 year high of $57.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.92.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.7996 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 2nd. This is an increase from Bank of Nova Scotia's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.90%. Bank of Nova Scotia's payout ratio is currently 86.51%.

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.