iA Financial Co. Inc. (TSE:IAG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

iA Financial Co. Inc. (TSE:IAG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$74.38.

A number of brokerages recently commented on IAG. Desjardins lowered their price objective on iA Financial from C$94.00 to C$89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. CIBC upped their price objective on iA Financial from C$95.00 to C$97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on iA Financial from C$104.00 to C$95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. National Bankshares lowered their price objective on iA Financial from C$104.00 to C$102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on iA Financial from C$99.00 to C$101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th.

Insider Activity at iA Financial

In related news, Senior Officer Alain Bergeron sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$84.59, for a total transaction of C$422,937.00. In related news, Senior Officer Alain Bergeron sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$84.59, for a total transaction of C$422,937.00. Also, Senior Officer Michael Lee Stickney sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$85.07, for a total value of C$119,091.98. Insiders sold 11,400 shares of company stock valued at $975,169 over the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

iA Financial Stock Performance

IAG stock opened at C$85.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.57. The firm has a market cap of C$8.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.13. iA Financial has a 12-month low of C$77.61 and a 12-month high of C$93.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$84.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$87.13.

iA Financial (TSE:IAG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported C$2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$2.49 by C($0.15). The firm had revenue of C$1.55 billion for the quarter. iA Financial had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 11.14%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that iA Financial will post 10.3410758 EPS for the current year.

iA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. This is a boost from iA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. iA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.85%.

About iA Financial

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.