PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Sells 12,450 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. lessened its holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 21.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,305 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,450 shares during the period. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $2,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BNS. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 65.9% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 42,028 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 16,700 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 177.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 40,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 26,036 shares in the last quarter. Natixis raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 166.3% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 48,394 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,504,000 after acquiring an additional 30,219 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 22.9% during the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 124,146 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,428,000 after acquiring an additional 23,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the first quarter worth $264,000. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 1.6 %

BNS stock opened at $56.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.25. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $56.17. The company has a market capitalization of $69.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.01. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 9.84% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a $0.768 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BNS. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Cibc World Mkts raised 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 raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

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.