National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on NKSH. Wall Street Zen raised shares of National Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of National Bankshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, National Bankshares presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

National Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of National Bankshares stock opened at $35.75 on Tuesday. National Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $24.74 and a fifty-two week high of $40.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.73 million, a P/E ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.09.

National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.50 million. National Bankshares had a net margin of 20.39% and a return on equity of 10.53%. On average, analysts expect that National Bankshares will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Bankshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA bought a new position in National Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $4,034,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in National Bankshares by 209.9% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,305 shares of the bank’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 2,916 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in National Bankshares by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,425 shares of the bank’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC raised its stake in National Bankshares by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 226,138 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,582,000 after buying an additional 97,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in National Bankshares by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,853 shares of the bank’s stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 9,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 29.73% of the company’s stock.

About National Bankshares

National Bankshares, Inc is a Virginia-based bank holding company headquartered in Reston. Through its primary subsidiaries, National Bank of Blacksburg and The Bank of Giles and Montgomery, the company offers a full suite of community banking services to individuals, small businesses and nonprofit organizations.

The company’s core activities include deposit-taking, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, trust and wealth management, and electronic banking platforms.