The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is on course to end the week on a subdued note.
At the time of writing, the CBA share price is down almost 0.5% to $103.00. Though, positively, that doesn't take much of the shine off its stunning performance this year.
Since the start of 2021, the CBA share price is up a sizeable 23%. That's more than two and half times the return of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
Image Source: Commonwealth Bank
Can the CBA share price keep rising and hit $120 by the end of 2021?
The good news is that one leading broker believes the CBA share price still has room to run higher.
According to a recent note out of Bell Potter, its analysts have a buy rating and $118.00 price target on its shares.
Based on the current CBA share price, this implies potential upside of 14.5% over the next 12 months before dividends.
Bell Potter is also forecasting a $4.06 per share fully franked dividend in FY 2022. If we add this into the equation, the potential total return stretches to over 18%.
Based on this, the broker clearly believes there's a chance that CBA shares could be trading close to $120 come the end of the year.
What did it say?
Bell Potter is positive on the CBA share price due to its belief that Australia's largest bank will come out of the pandemic in a strong position.
It commented: "Like it or not, COVID-19 is seen as a good thing for CBA. The bank has now bounced back from its lows and is on its way back to its usual top line growth potential. Combined with effective cost management, strong prudential measures and IT leadership, CBA should be able to ride out the COVID-19 storm and emerge fundamentally stronger once the pandemic has ended and when interest rates begin to rise once again."
And while the broker likes Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) as well, it notes that Commonwealth Bank is its top pick among the major banks.
It explained: "We continue to prefer CBA (Buy) and ANZ (Buy) (the former based on future performance potential and the latter purely on pricing), the pecking order is now shifted as follows: (1) CBA; (2) NAB; and (3) ANZ."
