DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Cuts Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its position in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Free Report) TSE: BNS by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 432,256 shares of the bank's stock after selling 238,160 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $21,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,115 shares of the bank's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,548 shares of the bank's stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 4,204 shares of the bank's stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 4,772 shares of the bank's stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% in the first quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 16,443 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company's stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.42. 3,286,273 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,096,471. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $39.79 and a twelve month high of $51.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $61.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS - Get Free Report) TSE: BNS last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 10.71%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.7843 dividend. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. This is an increase from Bank of Nova Scotia's previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.00.

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.