Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 12,117 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lessened its holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 251,862 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,117 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $13,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $690,438,000 after buying an additional 683,946 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 24.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,346,995 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of 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 raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,281,724 shares of the bank’s stock worth $424,497,000 after purchasing an additional 57,796 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 660,097 shares during the last quarter. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BNS. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia stock traded up $0.50 on Thursday, reaching $56.72. The stock had a trading volume of 926,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,769,975. The business’s 50 day moving average is $53.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $56.81. The company has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.05.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia 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.