Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 187,809 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.6%, selling 187,809 shares and holding approximately 1,985,565 shares worth $94.15 million at the end of the first quarter.
• The bank recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.7996 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.7%, despite a significant decrease in earnings per share compared to the previous year.
• Bank of Nova Scotia received a downgrade from Wall Street analysts, shifting from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating, while still holding a consensus rating of "Hold" from various analysts with a target price of $81.00.

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,985,565 shares of the bank's stock after selling 187,809 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.16% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $94,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the 1st quarter worth $52,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 38.4% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,175 shares of the bank's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the 1st quarter worth $81,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the 4th quarter worth $95,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,343 shares of the bank's stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on BNS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of BNS traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.96. The stock had a trading volume of 674,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,983,865. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.86. Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $44.09 and a twelve month high of $62.34. The firm has a market cap of $76.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.14. 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 (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.09. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 8.83%.The business had revenue of $6.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. This is a boost from Bank of Nova Scotia's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Bank of Nova Scotia's payout ratio is currently 94.72%.

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.