National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$214.00 to C$222.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. National Bank of Canada traded as high as C$215.78 and last traded at C$215.10, with a volume of 45275 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$214.00.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on NA. Desjardins raised their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$215.00 to C$217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on National Bank of Canada from C$193.00 to C$180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. TD increased their target price on National Bank of Canada from C$182.00 to C$202.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$204.00 to C$205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$172.00 to C$188.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National Bank of Canada currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$199.50.

National Bank of Canada Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$83.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09, a PEG ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$203.59 and its 200 day moving average price is C$185.21.

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The financial services provider reported C$3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. National Bank of Canada had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The firm had revenue of C$3.91 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that National Bank of Canada will post 10.8360791 earnings per share for the current year.

National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 1st will be given a $1.32 dividend. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. This is a positive change from National Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. National Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.83%.

About National Bank of Canada

National Bank of Canada is the sixth-largest Canadian bank. The bank offers integrated financial services, primarily in the province of Quebec as well as the city of Toronto. Operational segments include personal and commercial banking, wealth management, and a financial markets group.