Citigroup Inc. Buys 540,526 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,517,072 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 540,526 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $98,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the second quarter worth $838,738,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 83.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,148,255 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $726,704,000 after buying an additional 5,979,338 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,800,305 shares of the bank’s stock worth $635,730,000 after buying an additional 3,007,407 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 555.8% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 3,062,126 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,984,000 after acquiring an additional 2,595,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 315.0% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,873,828 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,181,312 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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 report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $77.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.39 and a 200-day moving average of $67.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $44.09 and a fifty-two week high of $78.28.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released 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. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 10.60%.The business had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.85%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

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.