Is the Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) share price a buy at $90?

Is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price a buy today? This ASX bank has just hit a new post-COVID high of ~$90 a share.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price has been making investors very happy over the past 12 months. The ASX's largest bank has grown more than 52% in value over the past year, including a healthy 7% in 2021 so far.

On Friday, CBA broke its 52-week high and closed at its highest level since February 2020 when the bank hit its pre-COVID all-time high.

Today, CBA has climbed even higher, making a fresh new 52-week high of $89.99 this morning. While that share price is laughably tantalising for being so close to $90, let's take a look at what this ASX bank has to offer at ~$90 a share today.

investor staring off into the distance wondering when Flight Centre might pay a dividend again as the share price rises today

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What does Commonwealth Bank offer today?

So, at the current share price, CBA is trading with a market capitalisation of $159.2 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 19.96 and a trailing dividend yield of 2.76%.

At this market capitalisation, CBA is now back atop its sometimes-occupied throne of the most valuable company on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Yes, CBA is now the biggest public company in Australia, a position it has regularly shared with BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) over the past few years.

So at a P/E ratio of 19.96, CBA is still below the current average for an ASX 200 company, which is 23.65. However, it is also below the average P/E of other big ASX banks today. To illustrate, let's take a look at CBA's big four brethren.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares are currently trading on a sky-high P/E ratio of 39.63. But National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) currently have P/Es of 24.67 and 23.79 respectively.

Turning to dividend yields, and CBA is once again looking competitive. A trailing yield of 2.76% far outstrips ANZ's current trailing yield of 2.08% on current pricing. Ditto with NAB's 2.24%. And Westpac is currently offering investors just 1.23%.

However, it's worth noting that the dividends we will see over the rest of 2021 are likely to look a lot different to what we have seen over 2020.

So CBA looks objectively attractive on all of these metrics compared to its ASX banking stablemates. But that doesn't automatically mean CBA shares are a buy today. So what's the 411?

Is the CBA share price a buy today?

According to CommSec, broker Goldman Sachs has a 'sell' rating on CBA shares, with a 12-month price target of $73.64 a share. The investment bank and broker points to CBA's heavy exposure to the retail housing market as the primary reason it is not too keen on CBA shares at $90.

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of National Australia Bank Limited. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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