It's been a strong day for Bank Nova Scotia Halifax Pfd 3. Its shares are now trading at $60.87, marking a 6.2% change since the previous market close. An analyst favorite, the Banking company has a rating of buy. But could the market and the analyst community be overvaluing this stock?
Bank Nova Scotia Halifax Pfd 3 has a P/E ratio of 17.7 based on its 12 month trailing earnings per share of $3.44. Considering its future earnings estimates of $5.08 per share, the stock's forward P/E ratio is 12.0. In comparison, the average P/E ratio of the Finance sector is 15.92 and the average P/E ratio of the S&P 500 is 29.3.
We can also compare the ratio of Bank Nova Scotia Halifax Pfd 3's market price to its book value, which gives us the price to book, or P/B ratio. A company's book value refers to its present equity value -- or what is left over when we subtract its liabilities from its assets. BNS has a P/B ratio of 0.89, with any figure close to or below one indicating a potentially undervalued company.
The final element of our analysis will touch on Bank Nova Scotia Halifax Pfd 3's ability to generate cash for the benefit of its shareholders or for reinvesting in the business. For this, we look at the company's levered free cash flow, which is the sum of all incoming and outgoing cash flows, including the servicing of current debt and liabilities. Bank Nova Scotia Halifax Pfd 3 has a free cash flow of $2.48 Billion, which it uses to pay its shareholders a 7.4% dividend.
At Market Inference, we will keep monitoring Bank Nova Scotia Halifax Pfd 3 to see if the analysts were right to recommend the stock despite its valuation issues. We recognize that numbers don't always tell the whole story, and that qualitative factors often set high performing investments apart from the rest.
