National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Trading 4.7% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Shares of National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) traded up 4.7% during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as C$125.50 and last traded at C$125.47. 376,188 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 1,705,298 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$119.89.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. National Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NA shares. CIBC dropped their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$124.00 to C$122.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Desjardins lifted their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$116.00 to C$118.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group set a C$123.00 price target on National Bank of Canada and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$116.42.

National Bank of Canada Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$44.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a P/E/G ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$112.97 and a 200-day moving average price of C$111.96.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Yvon Charest acquired 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$117.24 per share, with a total value of C$38,103.00. In other news, Senior Officer Lucie Blanchet sold 8,800 shares of the company’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 National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$117.24 per share, with a total value of C$38,103.00. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.