National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Cormark raised their price target on the stock from C$121.00 to C$122.00. Cormark currently has a market perform rating on the stock. National Bank of Canada traded as high as C$114.54 and last traded at C$118.51, with a volume of 190891 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$117.74.

NA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$121.00 to C$119.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. TD Securities increased their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$121.00 to C$123.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$109.00 to C$113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Desjardins increased their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$116.00 to C$118.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a C$123.00 price target on National Bank of Canada and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$114.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Lucie Blanchet sold 8,800 shares of National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$107.59, for a total transaction of C$946,792.00. In related news, Senior Officer Lucie Blanchet sold 8,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$107.59, for a total value of C$946,792.00. Also, Director Yvon Charest bought 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$117.24 per share, with a total value of C$38,103.00. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

National Bank of Canada Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of C$41.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$111.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$111.34.

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The financial services provider reported C$2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$2.43 by C$0.11. National Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 34.10%. The company had revenue of C$2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$2.89 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that National Bank of Canada will post 10.5085049 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from National Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. National Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

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.