Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 9,354 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 56.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,033 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 9,354 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $1,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BNS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,005,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,041,575,000 after buying an additional 1,821,166 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $838,738,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 14,231,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $786,729,000 after buying an additional 90,158 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,148,255 shares of the bank’s stock worth $726,704,000 after buying an additional 5,979,338 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,088,450 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $564,941,000 after buying an additional 1,684,510 shares in the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $76.37 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $44.09 and a 52 week high of $76.56.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 2nd. The bank reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 10.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is 79.60%.

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.