XTX Topco Ltd Acquires Shares of 5,458 Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in the Bank of Nova Scotia, purchasing 5,458 shares valued at approximately $259,000 during the first quarter.
• Bank of Nova Scotia's shares received a downgrade from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen, with a current consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $81.00.
• The bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.7996, reflecting an annualized basis of $3.20 and a dividend yield of 5.7%, an increase from its previous quarterly dividend.

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,458 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 25,425,639 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,363,619,000 after purchasing an additional 434,771 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,158,112 shares of the bank's stock worth $718,670,000 after purchasing an additional 374,487 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,509,995 shares of the bank's stock worth $242,505,000 after purchasing an additional 71,866 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,849,592 shares of the bank's stock worth $206,325,000 after purchasing an additional 537,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,529,000. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.4%

BNS stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,711,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,523,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.47. The company has a market capitalization of $70.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.14. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $44.09 and a 52 week high of $57.07.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $6.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 11.27%. Bank of Nova Scotia's quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd were paid a $0.7996 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of Nova Scotia's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Bank of Nova Scotia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.00.

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.