Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Position in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,334,685 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,078 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $71,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,640,471 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $310,817,000 after acquiring an additional 524,496 shares during the period. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 38,283.3% in the 4th quarter. Galibier Capital Management Ltd. now owns 476,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,586,000 after purchasing an additional 475,479 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,095,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,839,000 after purchasing an additional 77,820 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the fourth quarter worth $292,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 98.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BNS. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Nova Scotia presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $46.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $58.44 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.16. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12 month low of $43.68 and a 12 month high of $57.07.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.7415 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.77%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

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.