ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price history: What caused the biggest ups and downs?

Let's zoom out on the ANZ share price…

Sebastian Bowen

Author Bio Sebastian Bowen has been a Motley Fool contributor since late 2018. Sebastian found his passion for writing and educating others about shares and all things finance after completing his studies in political, economic and social science and enjoys bringing this passion to life at the Fool. His investment philosophy is a simple one – buying high-quality companies at prices that make sense. When he’s not researching his next investment at all hours of the morning, Sebastian enjoys classic movies and likes to unwind with a good book, newspaper or record. Areas of Expertise Dividend investing ETFs Education Bachelor of Political, Economic, and Social Sciences (Government and International Relations), University of Sydney Social Media X/Twitter Favorite Investment Quote "In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine." – Benjamin Graham

Published November 25, 2021 4:51 pm AEDT

As a major big four ASX bank share (or big 5 these days), the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has always been one of the most watched metrics on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). As a top 10 ASX 200 share, ANZ shares have a fairly large influence over the entire ASX 200.

So let's take a journey through ANZ's share price history. It's quite telling to look at a blue chip share like ANZ through this lens, as we can really see how much it lives up to this reputation as a strong, stable and relatively safe investment.

So here's how the ANZ share price looks over the past 10 years:

So as you can see, it's far from 'up and to the right' for ANZ shares. At the last ANZ share price of $27.27, investors would have bought those same shares for that same price way back in February 2013. Or back in October 2006 for that matter. That's 15 years of doing a whole lot of not much.

CBA share price money laundering asx bank shares represented by large buidling with the word 'bank' on it — Image source: Getty Images

ANZ share price: stuck in the mud?

Of course, there was ANZ's meaty and (mostly) fully franked dividends that would have helped ease the pain. But it's safe to say that ANZ has not been a market-beating investment for most long-term shareholders over the past 15 years.

Of course, we've seen highs and lows far over and under that price over this period too. ANZ's last all-time high was hit back in April 2015. Believe it or not, that's when ANZ shares got close to $37 each. As it stands today (6½ years later), ANZ remains around 25% off of those highs. Just over the past 5 years alone, the ANZ share price remains down by 4.18%.

But then again, ANZ is also today a good 80% or so above the lows that we saw during the COVID crash last year. That was when ANZ got to under $15 a share. So it hasn't been all bad news for shareholders. In more recent times, the picture has been a lot brighter too. ANZ is up 18.4% year to date in 2021 alone, and is also up 17.3% over the past 12 months.
Sometimes, perspective is everything!

At the current ANZ share price of $27.27, this ASX banking share has a market capitalisation of $76.88 billion, with a dividend yield of 5.21%.

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