The Bank of Nova Scotia Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.74 (NYSE:BNS)

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.7415 per share by the bank on Monday, April 28th. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st.

Bank of Nova Scotia has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Bank of Nova Scotia has a dividend payout ratio of 52.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Bank of Nova Scotia to earn $5.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.9%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BNS opened at $50.45 on Thursday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $57.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.50.

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.