National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$110.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$109.00 to C$113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$113.00 to C$121.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$109.00 to C$121.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Veritas Investment Research restated a “reduce” rating on shares of National Bank of Canada in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Desjardins raised their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$109.00 to C$116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th.

National Bank of Canada Price Performance

TSE NA opened at C$113.96 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$113.11 and its 200 day moving average price is C$104.08. The company has a market capitalization of C$38.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 1.12. National Bank of Canada has a 12 month low of C$84.27 and a 12 month high of C$116.81.

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported C$2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.38 by C$0.21. The firm had revenue of C$2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.72 billion. National Bank of Canada had a net margin of 34.22% and a return on equity of 14.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that National Bank of Canada will post 9.8686007 earnings per share for the current year.

National Bank of Canada Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. National Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Yvon Charest purchased 324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$116.20 per share, with a total value of C$37,648.80. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About National Bank of Canada

National Bank of Canada provides financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional clients, and governments in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International. The Personal and Commercial segment offers personal banking services, including transaction solutions, mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit, consumer loans, payment solutions, and savings and investment solutions; various insurance products; and commercial banking services, such as credit, and deposit, investment solutions, international trade, foreign exchange transactions, payroll, cash management, insurance, electronic transactions, and complimentary services.