Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) Buy, Sell or Hold

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Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO)

122.67

-0.06 (0.05%)

as of Jul 27, 2026, 8:00:00 pm Market Open.

2153 watching

Investor Insights

Jul 27, 2026, 12:00 am

This summary was created by AI, based on 30 opinions in the last 12 months.

The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) has elicited mixed reviews from experts. Some highlight its strong positioning for future growth due to investments in GenAI and a favorable regulatory environment that allows for increased lending capacity. However, others express concerns about BNS's performance relative to its Canadian peers, noting it as the weakest among them despite a decent dividend yield of around 4.5% and recent strategic moves to invest in the U.S. market through KEY. While some analysts see potential for long-term gains, particularly with the new CEO at the helm, others urge caution citing stagnant loan growth and rising provisions for credit losses (PCLs). The overall sentiment reflects a blend of optimism for its turnaround and skepticism about its ability to catch up to its competitors amidst ongoing economic challenges.

Consensus

Mixed

Valuation

Undervalued

Similar

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Jul 25/19, Down 16%) He would still own this one. They have been streamlining operations and expanded into growing retail markets outside North America, which has slowed their profitability temporarily. He still thinks longer term the valuations will become attractive and lead to share price appreciation.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Feb 11/19, Down 26%) This can still fall further, though it has a lot. Now, it's very cheap and pays a fine yield. It's fairly safe to buy it. The banks are close to the bottom.

BUY

Dividend is safe. If they didn't cut in 2008, they won't cut now. People are worried that with the price of oil so low, we'll go into recession, rates will go down, and the Canadian consumer is more highly leveraged than the US consumer. But over the long term, the banks have compounded for the investor very well.

TOP PICK

An income pick. BNS is well-run, though earnings have been sloppy in recent quarters as they integrate acquisitions. He sees earnings growth. It trades cheaply at 10x earnings at a 5% dividend. You can own both US and Canadian banks which face different tailwinds. (Analysts’ price target is $77.67)

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Mar 13/19, Up 8%) Thought it would be out of the doghouse by now. Problems in Chile and Canadian consumer have caused it to struggle. Still happy to own it.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

Ranks after TD and Royal as a bank. They're in some emerging markets that make him cautious.

COMMENT

They're doing a better job as a Canadian retail bank, but there are some problems with their Latin American operations. This is getting interesting with its valuation and potential growth. However, low interest rates are a damper. He'd rank this behind TD, his top Canadian bank. He owns no Canadian banks now.

TOP PICK

He likes the banks generally because they are really cheap and this is the cheapest of the banks that is on good technical support. He cycles out of the high ones and gets into the low ones. (Analysts’ price target is $77.07)

PARTIAL BUY

Among the Canadian banks, it's the riskiest, given its move into Latin America, but this could also be opportunity. It's the cheapest Canadian bank. It could struggle in the first half of 2020 given slow global growth, but should do better in the latter half. He kind of likes it here. But he'd buy this along with RY and BMO to get more geographic diversification. He wouldn't buy only BNS.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Nov 19/19, Down 4%) Long-term, banks are fine. Not a trade, but a hold. Now could be a buying opportunity.

COMMENT

Canadian Banks? He is very pessimistic on Canada in general. We are the whipping horse of the world right now. He is not a fan of this sector. News of high loan loss provisions is making him nervous and he sees global shorting going on. He favours US banks instead. If he were to look at one Canadian bank, it might be BNS. A yield over 5% and share price upside to $85.36.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Jan 09/19, Up 8%) Not exactly a barn burner of a return, but nothing to sneeze at either. Still buying it with fresh dollars today. Structural alliance to Pacific Alliance developing countries, which are under-banked. Trades at a discount to the others. Catalysts include excess capital, selling off some small assets, and integrating recently acquired fund management company.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Jan 15/19, Up 6%) Most of the return was from the dividend. He thinks the Canadian banks are better valued than US counterparts. Provisions for loans losses and software development write downs resulted in a $175 million earnings report recently. He would make this one of his most favoured Canadian banks -- trading at 1.4 times book and a near 5% yield. It has the most potential for capital appreciation going forward.

COMMENT

CDN Bank shares or ETF? As a porfolio manager, he prefers to use his expertise to pick individual stocks. An ETF gives you the group and no ability to outperform. Canadian banks are favorable over US counterparts he thinks, including the higher yield. He likes BNS and RY. He does not hold much in TD at the moment. He holds about 20% of his portfolio in banks.

DON'T BUY

Banks did poorly in the second half of 2019. BNS has had a long downturn for two years, the enjoyed a pop on August earnings, then has since retreated down. Canadian banks do well Jan. 24- April 15. But wait till BNS itself picks up before entering, in addition to its seasonality. Need to see some momentum.

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Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO)