The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• The Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus recommendation of Hold from 10 brokerages (nine holds, one buy) with an average 12‑month price target of C$106.08.
• Analysts have recently adjusted views and targets: Canaccord downgraded BNS from buy to hold (target cut to C$110), RBC and National Bank trimmed targets, while UBS and Raymond James raised theirs to C$120 and C$117 respectively, showing mixed sentiment.
• Shares opened at C$103.62 (one‑year high C$106.39) — roughly in line with the average target — and the bank pays a quarterly dividend of $1.10 (annualized $4.40) for a 4.2% yield

The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS - Get Free Report) NYSE: BNS has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$106.08.

BNS has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from C$118.00 to C$110.00 in a report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$118.00 to C$120.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. National Bank Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$102.00 to C$100.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$106.00 to C$98.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$114.00 to C$117.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS opened at C$103.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of C$127.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.16. Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of C$67.89 and a one year high of C$106.39. The company's fifty day moving average price is C$99.77 and its 200 day moving average price is C$98.74.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS - Get Free Report) NYSE: BNS last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The bank reported C$2.05 EPS for the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 10.41%. The firm had revenue of C$10.08 billion for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 7.1286267 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 7th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Bank of Nova Scotia's payout ratio is presently 64.69%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia is a global financial services provider. The bank has five business segments: Canadian banking, international banking, global wealth management, global banking and markets, and other. It offers a range of advice, products, and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. The bank's international operations span numerous countries and are more concentrated in Central and South America.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.