The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$78.55.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BNS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$71.00 to C$84.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$81.00 to C$75.00 in a research note on Wednesday. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$66.00 to C$78.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Securities set a C$81.00 target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$83.00 to C$81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

BNS stock opened at C$69.70 on Friday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of C$60.68 and a fifty-two week high of C$80.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$73.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$73.15. The company has a market cap of C$85.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.97.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.00%.

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.