Sigma Planning Corp Raises Holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,089 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,862,189 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,478,304,000 after purchasing an additional 891,157 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,015,877 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $881,082,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361,136 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,091,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $690,438,000 after acquiring an additional 683,946 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 14,563,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $753,658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted 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 valued at $424,497,000 after acquiring an additional 57,796 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on BNS shares. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Bank of Nova Scotia stock opened at $53.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.99. 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 Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $55.12.

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

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.768 per share. This represents a $3.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is 74.88%.

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.