Intact Financial (TSE:IFC) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Intact Financial Co. (TSE:IFC) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$256.00 to C$261.00. The stock traded as high as C$23.00 and last traded at C$223.84, with a volume of 103737 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$221.06.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Intact Financial from C$228.00 to C$229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Intact Financial from C$221.00 to C$247.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Intact Financial from C$225.00 to C$250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Intact Financial from C$225.00 to C$235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Desjardins upped their target price on Intact Financial from C$235.00 to C$238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intact Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$237.20.

Insider Transactions at Intact Financial

In other Intact Financial news, Senior Officer Benoit Morissette sold 7,000 shares of Intact Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$226.23, for a total transaction of C$1,583,589.00. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Intact Financial Stock Up 1.5 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$223.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$211.64. The company has a market cap of C$40.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.90, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Intact Financial (TSE:IFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported C$3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$3.44 by C$0.03. The firm had revenue of C$6.53 billion during the quarter. Intact Financial had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 4.59%. On average, analysts predict that Intact Financial Co. will post 14.4651774 earnings per share for the current year.

Intact Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.21 per share. This is a positive change from Intact Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Intact Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.24%.

About Intact Financial

Intact Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance products to individuals and businesses in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers insurance, such as personal auto which provides coverage from accidents, third party liability, and physical damage; personal property which provides protection for homes and contents from risks, including fire, theft, vandalism, water damages, other damages, and personal liability; and commercial line and specialty line insurance which provides commercial auto, property, and liability coverages.