Plato Investment Management Ltd Raises Stake in The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) by 406.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,667 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,379 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia were worth $898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BNS. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 12.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,890 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 25.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 84,281 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 17,232 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 28.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 359,146 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,819,000 after purchasing an additional 79,854 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 48.3% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,563,594 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,201,000 after purchasing an additional 509,120 shares during the period. 49.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BNS. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays raised shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.50.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:BNS opened at $49.38 on Tuesday. The Bank of Nova Scotia has a fifty-two week low of $43.67 and a fifty-two week high of $57.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.50.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.7415 dividend. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.20%.

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.