3,288 Shares in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Acquired by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,288 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $179,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1,388.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3,127.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the first quarter valued at about $53,000. City State Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 102.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BNS. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BNS opened at $53.93 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.05. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $55.12.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.768 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.70%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.88%.

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.