National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised National Bankshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

National Bankshares Stock Down 1.6 %

NKSH stock opened at $29.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.78. National Bankshares has a 12 month low of $26.00 and a 12 month high of $35.00. The company has a market capitalization of $186.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09 and a beta of 0.61.

National Bankshares (NASDAQ:NKSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48. National Bankshares had a net margin of 9.64% and a return on equity of 5.00%. On average, research analysts expect that National Bankshares will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. This is a positive change from National Bankshares’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.55. This represents a yield of 5%. National Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of National Bankshares by 2.4% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 21,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in National Bankshares by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in National Bankshares by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,268 shares of the bank’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of National Bankshares by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,374,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of National Bankshares by 71.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,757 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.73% of the company’s stock.

National Bankshares Company Profile

National Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for the National Bank of Blacksburg that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, businesses, non-profits, and local governments. The company accepts interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing demand deposit accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts.