National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday.

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of National Bankshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday.

National Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NKSH opened at $31.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $203.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.81. National Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $25.18 and a fifty-two week high of $37.00.

National Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a yield of 5%. This is a boost from National Bankshares’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. National Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.59%.

Institutional Trading of National Bankshares

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC increased its stake in National Bankshares by 290.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,487 shares of the bank’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 5,569 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of National Bankshares by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 138,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 5,975 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of National Bankshares by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of National Bankshares by 71.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,757 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of National Bankshares by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 29.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

National Bankshares Company Profile

National Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for the National Bank of Blacksburg that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, businesses, non-profits, and local governments. The company accepts interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing demand deposit accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts.