National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Upgraded by Cibc World Mkts to Strong-Buy Rating

Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. CIBC boosted their target price on National Bank of Canada from C$135.00 to C$141.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$140.00 to C$138.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$135.00 to C$142.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$134.00 to C$145.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$129.00 to C$154.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$137.20.

National Bank of Canada Stock Performance

NA opened at C$132.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$45.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$133.97 and a 200 day moving average of C$124.94. National Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of C$98.04 and a fifty-two week high of C$141.15.

National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.14 per share. This is a positive change from National Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. National Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 42.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at National Bank of Canada

In other news, insider Marie-Chantal Gingras sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$132.79, for a total value of C$79,674.00. Also, Director Yvon Charest acquired 285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$133.71 per share, for a total transaction of C$38,107.35. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.