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

Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$76.45.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BNS shares. CIBC lowered their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$81.00 to C$75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from C$76.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from C$82.00 to C$70.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, TD Securities set a C$81.00 target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of TSE BNS opened at C$71.37 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$67.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$72.47. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of C$60.68 and a 52-week high of C$80.14. The firm has a market cap of C$87.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.97.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. 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.