Forsta AP Fonden Sells 64,000 Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 301,500 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 64,000 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $22,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BNS. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

BNS opened at $80.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.04. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $52.44 and a 52-week high of $82.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.37.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 13.38%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

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.