iA Financial (TSE:IAG) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

iA Financial Co. Inc. (TSE:IAG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$137.34 and last traded at C$135.30, with a volume of 167021 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$133.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IAG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of iA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$105.00 to C$137.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Cormark boosted their price objective on shares of iA Financial from C$127.00 to C$130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of iA Financial from C$126.00 to C$140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. National Bankshares boosted their price target on iA Financial from C$118.00 to C$121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on iA Financial from C$132.00 to C$135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$129.75.

iA Financial Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$117.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$100.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 46.39, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

iA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a boost from iA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. iA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at iA Financial

In other iA Financial news, Director Denis Ricard sold 7,200 shares of iA Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$131.00, for a total value of C$943,200.00. Also, Senior Officer Éric Jobin sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$136.91, for a total transaction of C$136,913.00. Insiders have sold a total of 47,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,185,929 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.