National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$136.40.

NA has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on National Bank of Canada from C$143.00 to C$135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on National Bank of Canada from C$149.00 to C$147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$145.00 to C$140.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts lowered National Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$135.00 to C$131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

National Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:NA opened at C$118.77 on Friday. National Bank of Canada has a 52-week low of C$105.43 and a 52-week high of C$141.15. The firm has a market capitalization of C$46.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$124.32 and a 200-day moving average price of C$128.88.

National Bank of Canada Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. National Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is 39.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Lucie Blanchet purchased 2,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$116.28 per share, for a total transaction of C$249,653.16. Also, Director Lynn Loewen purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$117.93 per share, for a total transaction of C$117,930.00. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 13,673 shares of company stock valued at $1,629,603. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.