The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Shares Acquired by Gold Investment Management Ltd.

Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,335 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 18,398 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia makes up approximately 2.9% of Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $7,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.8% during the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 136,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after purchasing an additional 14,379 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2,455.8% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,521,906 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,360 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 48.3% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,563,594 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,201,000 after purchasing an additional 509,120 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock worth $690,438,000 after acquiring an additional 683,946 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 5,380.9% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,972,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $216,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,899,760 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Down 0.6 %

BNS stock opened at $53.76 on Friday. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $55.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.74.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 11.14%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were issued a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.71%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 74.88%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets segments.