K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Sells 9,860 Shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc decreased its holdings in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,713 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,860 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia makes up 1.4% of K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $8,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sprott Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of Nova Scotia during the third quarter valued at $146,907,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,684,313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $665,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256,868 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,567,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,028,861,000 after acquiring an additional 736,807 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,691,098 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,083,057,000 after buying an additional 725,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 360.3% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 705,200 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,753,000 after buying an additional 551,992 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.57. 1,145,233 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,089,510. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.45. The company has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $39.79 and a 1 year high of $51.98.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.06. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 10.71% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Bank of Nova Scotia will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.7843 per share. This is an increase from Bank of Nova Scotia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s payout ratio is currently 34.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BNS. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays began coverage on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

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.