Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $66.70 and last traded at $66.9490, with a volume of 1437029 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on BNS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Up 0.5%

The stock has a market cap of $82.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.43 and its 200 day moving average is $57.87.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 26th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.09. Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company had revenue of $6.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,155,791 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,819,000 after acquiring an additional 60,506 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 159.3% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 39,955 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 24,547 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in the first quarter valued at approximately $856,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 67,240 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,189,000 after purchasing an additional 3,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Rea LTD. acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 1st quarter worth $4,528,000. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

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.