The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) (TSE:BNS) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,340,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the October 31st total of 26,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 18.5 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 11,089 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 18,470 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 7.3% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the bank’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 19,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of Nova Scotia by 11.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Securities upgraded Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Bank of Nova Scotia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Nova Scotia currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BNS traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $55.31. 647,096 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,758,546. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of $43.67 and a 1 year high of $57.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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.