iA Financial (TSE:IAG) Hits New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

iA Financial Co. Inc. (TSE:IAG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as C$133.72 and last traded at C$132.08, with a volume of 455627 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$115.01.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is an increase from iA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. iA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on IAG. Cibc World Mkts upgraded iA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of iA Financial from C$126.00 to C$140.00 in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of iA Financial from C$126.00 to C$143.00 in a report on Thursday. National Bankshares lifted their price target on shares of iA Financial from C$118.00 to C$121.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of iA Financial from C$132.00 to C$135.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, iA Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$128.50.

iA Financial Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$111.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$97.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 46.39, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a market capitalization of C$12.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.13.

iA Financial (TSE:IAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported C$2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.58 by C$0.17. The firm had revenue of C$1.64 billion for the quarter. iA Financial had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 9.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that iA Financial Co. Inc. will post 11.6187564 earnings per share for the current year.

iA Financial Company Profile

iA Financial Corporation Inc, provides insurance and wealth management services in Canada and the United States. The company operates through Insurance, Canada; Wealth Management; Investment; and US Operations segments. The company provides health, auto, home, and creditor insurance products; replacement insurance products and warranties; extended warranties and other ancillary products for dealer services; specialized products for special markets; and life insurance products and extended warranties relating to dealer services.