The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Shares Bought by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,073 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $8,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BNS. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,346,995 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in 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 worth $550,729,000 after purchasing an additional 240,803 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,281,724 shares of the bank’s stock worth $424,497,000 after buying an additional 57,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 17.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,438,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $241,981,000 after buying an additional 660,097 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $57.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.71. The stock has a market cap of $70.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $57.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BNS. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

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.