iA Financial Co. Inc. (TSE:IAG) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• iA Financial has a consensus analyst rating of Hold from eight brokers (six hold, two buy) with an average one-year price target of C$179.63, while recent analyst moves were mixed—TD raised its target to C$193 (buy) as BMO and Scotiabank trimmed theirs to about C$174–175.
• Insiders increased their stakes: Director Denis Ricard bought 6,000 shares at C$152 (C$912,000), boosting his holding by 12%, and another insider bought 1,000 shares; insiders now own about 0.09% of the company.
• Stock and valuation snapshot: the share opened at C$174.06, trading between a 52-week low/high of C$129.24–C$182.99, with a market cap of C$15.81 billion and a P/E of 15.42 (50‑/200‑day moving averages C$158.20/C$165.39).

iA Financial Co. Inc. (TSE:IAG - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$179.63.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IAG. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on iA Financial from C$185.00 to C$175.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Desjardins increased their price target on iA Financial from C$173.00 to C$174.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. TD increased their price target on iA Financial from C$189.00 to C$193.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$167.00 price target on iA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on iA Financial from C$188.00 to C$174.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Denis Ricard acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$152.00 per share, for a total transaction of C$912,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 56,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$8,512,000. This represents a 12.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Ï¿½Ric Jobin acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$151.82 per share, with a total value of C$151,820.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,941 shares in the company, valued at C$294,682.62. This represents a 106.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

iA Financial Stock Performance

TSE:IAG opened at C$174.06 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is C$158.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$165.39. iA Financial has a 52-week low of C$129.24 and a 52-week high of C$182.99. The company has a market cap of C$15.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.86.

iA Financial (TSE:IAG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported C$3.10 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$3.23 billion for the quarter. iA Financial had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 10.11%. On average, equities analysts predict that iA Financial will post 11.6187564 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About iA Financial

iA Financial Corp Inc is a life and health insurance company. It offers life and health insurance products, savings and retirement plans, mutual funds, securities, auto and home insurance, mortgages, and others. The company operates and manages its activities according to five main reportable operating segments Individual Insurance, Individual Wealth Management, Group Insurance, Group Savings and Retirement, and US Operations.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.