The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS) (NYSE:BNS) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$76.73.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BNS shares. TD Securities set a C$81.00 price target on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$81.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$83.00 to C$81.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Accountability Research set a C$82.00 price target on Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th.

Bank of Nova Scotia Stock Performance

Shares of BNS opened at C$67.09 on Wednesday. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of C$60.68 and a 52-week high of C$80.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$71.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$73.64. The stock has a market capitalization of C$82.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.97.

Bank of Nova Scotia Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of Nova Scotia’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.00%.

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.