National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,953,400 shares, a drop of 29.0% from the January 15th total of 12,614,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 80,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 111.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NTIOF. Cormark raised National Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays downgraded National Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised National Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th.

National Bank of Canada Stock Performance

National Bank of Canada stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $89.35. 20,379 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 73,418. National Bank of Canada has a 52 week low of $76.15 and a 52 week high of $100.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $34.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.14.

National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.05. National Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 17.21% and a net margin of 24.65%. On average, analysts expect that National Bank of Canada will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Saturday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.8104 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This is a boost from National Bank of Canada’s previous dividend of $0.81. National Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 41.02%.

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.