Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) Competitors

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) and Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) are both large-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, risk, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, BNS or RY?

Royal Bank of Canada has higher revenue and earnings than Bank of Nova Scotia. Bank of Nova Scotia is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Royal Bank of Canada, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank of Nova Scotia	C$29.52B	2.64	C$7.35B	C$6.06	10.46
Royal Bank of Canada	C$53.51B	4.04	C$15.06B	C$10.71	14.30

Is BNS or RY a better dividend stock?

Bank of Nova Scotia pays an annual dividend of C$4.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Royal Bank of Canada pays an annual dividend of C$5.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Bank of Nova Scotia pays out 70.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Royal Bank of Canada pays out 51.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do analysts rate BNS or RY?

Bank of Nova Scotia presently has a consensus target price of C$66.50, indicating a potential upside of 4.89%. Royal Bank of Canada has a consensus target price of C$145.71, indicating a potential downside of 4.85%. Given Bank of Nova Scotia's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bank of Nova Scotia is more favorable than Royal Bank of Canada.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of Nova Scotia	1 Sell rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.93
Royal Bank of Canada	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.59

Which has more volatility and risk, BNS or RY?

Bank of Nova Scotia has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Royal Bank of Canada has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor BNS or RY?

Royal Bank of Canada received 268 more outperform votes than Bank of Nova Scotia when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.35% of users gave Royal Bank of Canada an outperform vote while only 54.66% of users gave Bank of Nova Scotia an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Bank of Nova Scotia	Outperform Votes 481 54.66%	Underperform Votes 399 45.34%
Royal Bank of Canada	Outperform Votes 749 59.35%	Underperform Votes 513 40.65%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of BNS or RY?

51.0% of Bank of Nova Scotia shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.9% of Royal Bank of Canada shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Bank of Nova Scotia shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is BNS or RY more profitable?

Royal Bank of Canada has a net margin of 28.61% compared to Bank of Nova Scotia's net margin of 26.41%. Royal Bank of Canada's return on equity of 13.66% beat Bank of Nova Scotia's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of Nova Scotia	26.41%	9.89%	0.57%
Royal Bank of Canada	28.61%	13.66%	0.78%

Does the media refer more to BNS or RY?

In the previous week, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Nova Scotia both had 4 articles in the media. Bank of Nova Scotia's average media sentiment score of 0.63 beat Royal Bank of Canada's score of 0.38 indicating that Bank of Nova Scotia is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Bank of Nova Scotia	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Royal Bank of Canada	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Royal Bank of Canada beats Bank of Nova Scotia on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.