Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Begins Coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage of Bank of Nova Scotia with an “outperform” rating. Analysts overall assign the stock a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with a $117 price target.
• Bank of Nova Scotia shares traded at $88.17, near their 52-week high of $92.04, with a market capitalization of approximately $107.46 billion.
• The bank exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.47 in earnings per share and $7.24 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 8.3% year over year. Institutional investors own about 49.13% of the stock.

Stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS in a research note issued on Friday. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating on the bank's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on BNS. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Bank of Nova Scotia stock traded up $1.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $88.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 75,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,382,173. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $107.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $56.55 and a 52 week high of $92.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.52.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,625 shares of the bank's stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the bank's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,193 shares of the bank's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.5% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,326 shares of the bank's stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.5% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 3,579 shares of the bank's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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