Scotia Has Lowered Expectations for iA Financial (TSE:IAG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Scotia cut its target on iA Financial to C$168 (from C$183) and kept a "sector perform" rating, while several other brokers trimmed targets or downgraded the stock, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Hold with a C$177.78 target.
• The stock traded at C$161.38 mid-day (market cap ~C$14.66B, P/E 14.29), so Scotia's revised target implies only about a 4.1% upside from the prior close.
• Insiders increased positions recently—Director Denis Ricard bought 6,000 shares at ~C$152 and another insider bought 1,000 shares—though insiders still own just ~0.09% of the company.

iA Financial (TSE:IAG - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Scotia from C$183.00 to C$168.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector perform" rating on the stock. Scotia's price target suggests a potential upside of 4.10% from the stock's previous close.

IAG has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank reduced their price target on iA Financial from C$188.00 to C$174.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. TD Securities downgraded iA Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on iA Financial from C$185.00 to C$175.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on iA Financial from C$181.00 to C$179.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$177.78.

iA Financial Stock Up 1.4%

TSE:IAG traded up C$2.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting C$161.38. 300,680 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 359,733. The stock has a market capitalization of C$14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.92. iA Financial has a 52 week low of C$129.24 and a 52 week high of C$182.99. The firm's 50 day moving average is C$159.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$165.75.

iA Financial (TSE:IAG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported C$3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. iA Financial had a net margin of 10.11% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of C$2.74 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that iA Financial will post 11.6187564 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

iA Financial Company Profile

iA Financial Group is one of the largest insurance and wealth management groups in Canada, with operations in the United States. Founded in 1892, it is an important Canadian public company and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IAG (common shares). To learn more about iA Financial Group, you can sign up for our newsletter on our website at ia.ca. iA Financial Group is a business name and trademark of iA Financial Corporation Inc

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.