National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has C$126.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of C$147.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on NA. TD Securities reduced their price target on National Bank of Canada from C$135.00 to C$131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$143.00 to C$135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$145.00 to C$144.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. CIBC downgraded National Bank of Canada from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from C$127.00 to C$115.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on National Bank of Canada from C$154.00 to C$125.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National Bank of Canada presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$133.10.

National Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of TSE NA opened at C$115.20 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$118.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$127.18. The stock has a market cap of C$44.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.12. National Bank of Canada has a 52-week low of C$105.43 and a 52-week high of C$141.15.

National Bank of Canada Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. National Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is presently 39.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at National Bank of Canada

In other news, Director Lynn Loewen acquired 1,000 shares of National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$117.93 per share, with a total value of C$117,930.00. Also, Senior Officer Lucie Blanchet bought 2,147 shares of National Bank of Canada stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$116.28 per share, with a total value of C$249,653.16. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 13,673 shares of company stock worth $1,629,603. Insiders own 0.21% 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.