Desjardins Boosts National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Price Target to C$118.00

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) had its target price hoisted by Desjardins from C$116.00 to C$118.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Desjardins currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$109.00 to C$113.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Cormark lifted their target price on National Bank of Canada from C$119.00 to C$120.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$109.00 to C$117.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$121.00 to C$115.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a C$123.00 target price on shares of National Bank of Canada and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of C$114.69.

National Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of TSE NA traded down C$0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting C$113.97. The company had a trading volume of 615,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,627. National Bank of Canada has a 12 month low of C$84.27 and a 12 month high of C$118.77. The firm has a market cap of C$38.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is C$111.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$110.55.

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The financial services provider reported C$2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.43 by C$0.11. National Bank of Canada had a net margin of 34.22% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The business had revenue of C$2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$2.89 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that National Bank of Canada will post 9.8686007 EPS for the current year.

National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is a positive change from National Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. National Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Lucie Blanchet sold 8,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$107.59, for a total value of C$946,792.00. In other news, Senior Officer Lucie Blanchet sold 8,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$107.59, for a total value of C$946,792.00. Also, Director Yvon Charest purchased 324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$116.20 per share, for a total transaction of C$37,648.80. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.