Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases Shares of 272,156 Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co. acquired 272,156 Bank of Nova Scotia shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $23.6 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 49.13% of the bank.
• Bank of Nova Scotia reported quarterly EPS of $1.47, exceeding analysts’ $1.42 estimate, while revenue rose 8.3% year over year to $7.24 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with the stock holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $117, versus a recent price of $87.56.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 272,156 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $23,647,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,237,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,221,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169,073 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 18,674,585 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,379,120,000 after buying an additional 310,564 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,368,456,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 16,489,540 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,216,157,000 after buying an additional 5,461,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,259,989 shares of the bank's stock valued at $923,232,000 after buying an additional 799,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 1.3%

BNS opened at $87.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $106.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $56.55 and a fifty-two week high of $92.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.58 and a 200-day moving average of $79.57.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 13.38%.The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

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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