Citigroup has upgraded Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) to buy from neutral after the stock has seen share price declines of around 6% in the last 12-months, sitting down 0.7% at the time of writing to $26.65, from $31.70 at this time last year.
The Citi broker believes the ANZ will be the one bank able to shift its dividend pay-out higher – to 80% by the second half of 2020 from 65% currently.
The broker said the CET1 ratio is forecast to remain above the 10.5% target despite around $7 billion in share buybacks and has maintained the price target of $30.
Other big bank names Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) all followed ANZ down today, with Commonwealth Bank shares slipping to $73.29 at the time of writing, National Australia Bank down 0.6% to $28.65 and Westpac dropping 0.3% to $28.96.
