National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$137.20.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NA. Barclays cut shares of National Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Cibc World Mkts raised National Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$134.00 to C$145.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$135.00 to C$141.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$125.00 to C$143.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at National Bank of Canada

In other news, insider Marie-Chantal Gingras sold 600 shares of National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$132.79, for a total transaction of C$79,674.00. Also, Director Yvon Charest bought 285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$133.71 per share, with a total value of C$38,107.35. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

National Bank of Canada Trading Up 1.3 %

TSE:NA opened at C$131.21 on Friday. National Bank of Canada has a 1-year low of C$100.47 and a 1-year high of C$141.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$133.25 and its 200-day moving average is C$126.95. The stock has a market cap of C$44.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.12.

National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, February 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a $1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. This is a boost from National Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. National Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.84%.

National Bank of Canada Company Profile

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.