The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,340,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the October 31st total of 26,850,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 18.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 9.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,990,868 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,361,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,195,604 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $690,438,000 after buying an additional 683,946 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,757,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $640,624,000 after buying an additional 2,346,995 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,074,518 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $550,729,000 after acquiring an additional 240,803 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,281,724 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $424,497,000 after acquiring an additional 57,796 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BNS. Barclays upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

NYSE:BNS traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.30. The stock had a trading volume of 632,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,758,546. Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $57.07. The stock has a market cap of $68.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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.