Shares of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) have been taking a massive beating in the new financial year.
The bank has lost more than 20% since August. Then investors sold off Bendigo shares following its FY22 results, sending it south in near-vertical fashion.
It now trades at 52-week lows at $8.55 at the open on Friday, as seen in the chart below.
Image source: Getty Images
Are Bendigo Bank shares a buy?
With the stock trading at 52-week lows, investors may be wondering if it is worth a nibble at these valuations.
With selling pressure continuing this week, trading volume in the bank's shares again topped the four-week trading average yesterday. On Thursday, 2.8 million shares swapped hands.
Despite the downside pressure, analysts at Citi have upgraded their view on the Bendigo Bank share price, amid a healthier outlook for the sector's earnings in FY23 and FY24.
"Banks are now sitting on an excess liquidity build the size of which has not been seen in history, with central banks set to embark on their quickest and largest tightening seen in over 30 years," Citi wrote in a recent note.
"This should generate a material initial return on that abundant liquidity sending FY23 net interest margins sharply higher by about 30 basis points [0.3%]," it added.
Citi rates the banking share a buy, alongside one other broker, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Whereas the remaining coverage is split between a hold and sell, with seven and five ratings assigned to each, respectively.
The consensus price target is $9.40 from this list. It suggests there could be a small correction to the downside on our hands if the group is correct.
Meanwhile, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank shares have slipped more than 12% into the red for the past 12 months, following this latest period of selling activity.
