The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is edging higher this afternoon, currently trading at $28.96.
That's a shade off its intraday high of $29.08, which is a corresponding 2-year high for the Australian banking giant.
Despite there being no market-sensitive news out of the NAB camp today, let's investigate what may be behind the bank's recent price momentum.
What tailwinds are behind the NAB share price?
Zooming out to scan a wider time frame, it's clear that shares in the bank have been charging higher over the last month.
The NAB share price came off a closing low of $26.91 on 22 September and hasn't looked back since.
After some slight volatility to start October, it has climbed 8% since this time, returning to its pre-pandemic trading levels once more.
It's worth noting that a handful of analysts have buy ratings on the NAB share price, indicating a positive sentiment that is generally a bullish signal.
While some brokers have downgraded to hold or neutral from their buy stance, players like Ord Minnett have a price target of $29.50 on the NAB share price, indicating the potential for more upside yet.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs are also bullish on the company, assigning a $30.62 price target on its shares with a forecasted FY22 dividend of $1.40 per share.
If NAB manages to reach these targets, the Big 4 bank will be trading on a running dividend yield of 4.6%, a step up from its trailing 12-month (TTM) yield of 3.14%.
In fact, NAB is Goldman's top-rated company among its ASX financials universe, as it is particularly impressed by the Aussie bank's capital budgeting style, its position in the mortgage market and on valuations.
It's also worth considering that the S&P/ASX 200 Financials index (XFJ) – of which NAB is a constituent – has posted equally as strong returns over the past month as well.
Although NAB leads the index, it still has climbed almost 5% in that time, and also kissed its 2-year high today.
With this momentum, it appears strengths are carried across the board in the ASX financials sector, a point that will be weighing in on NAB's case.
NAB share price snapshot
The NAB share price has blown it out of the park this year to date, posting a 28% return – double that of the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO) – since January 1.
Over the last 12 months, it has climbed 48.5%, well ahead of the benchmark index on this time frame as well.
