Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Stake in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) $BNS

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,046,439 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 206,093 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.17% of Bank of Nova Scotia worth $150,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the bank’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.5% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 45,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BNS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $80.62 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.87. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $53.52 and a 1-year high of $82.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.13 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $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.

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.