Brokerages Set National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Target Price at C$139.40

Shares of National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$138.20.

NA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on National Bank of Canada from C$135.00 to C$142.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$153.00 to C$149.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$154.00 to C$125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$150.00 to C$145.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut National Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Brigitte Hébert sold 400 shares of National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$132.46, for a total transaction of C$52,984.00. Also, insider Marie-Chantal Gingras sold 600 shares of National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$132.79, for a total transaction of C$79,674.00. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

National Bank of Canada Stock Up 0.5 %

TSE:NA opened at C$125.03 on Tuesday. National Bank of Canada has a 52 week low of C$102.90 and a 52 week high of C$141.15. The stock has a market capitalization of C$48.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$129.57 and its 200-day moving average price is C$128.80.

National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, February 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. This is a positive change from National Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. National Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.03%.

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.