Avanza Fonder AB Makes New $4.39 Million Investment in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 81,793 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $4,394,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 282,548 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,925,000 after purchasing an additional 21,215 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 45.8% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 61,759 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,824,000 after buying an additional 19,407 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,747 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 2,563 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia during the 2nd quarter worth about $734,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 148,110 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,774,000 after acquiring an additional 73,128 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNS has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays raised Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS opened at $50.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.33. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $57.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.7535 per share. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.06%.

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.