National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$135.20.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NA shares. TD Securities lowered their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$135.00 to C$131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Desjardins lowered their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$140.00 to C$136.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$145.00 to C$144.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of National Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Cormark dropped their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$139.00 to C$137.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at National Bank of Canada

In other news, Director Yvon Charest bought 334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$125.90 per share, for a total transaction of C$42,050.60. Also, Senior Officer Lucie Blanchet bought 2,147 shares of National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$116.28 per share, with a total value of C$249,653.16. Insiders have purchased 13,673 shares of company stock worth $1,629,603 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

National Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of NA stock opened at C$114.53 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$44.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is C$118.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$127.51. National Bank of Canada has a 12 month low of C$105.43 and a 12 month high of C$141.15.

National Bank of Canada Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. National Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.