As an S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) banking share, the National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is one of the most followed investments on the index. NAB shares also have the distinction of being one of the better-performing ASX banks of the past few years as well.
In stark contrast to the ASX 200 Index, NAB shares have had a positive year in 2022 so far. While the ASX 200 has lost a painful 11.32% year to date, the NAB share price has risen by a healthy 7.4%.
Compare that to the 2.54% that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)'s share price has lost, and NAB is looking pretty good.
NAB has now more than doubled from its 2020 COVID lows – not a bad return for two and a half years.
But what of the future? Where to from here for the NAB share price?
Image source: Getty Images
Is the NAB share price a buy today?
Well, one ASX broker reckons the best is still to come for NAB shares. As my Fool colleague James dove into earlier this week, ASX broker Macquarie has recently upgraded its rating on NAB to outperform.
Macquarie gives NAB a 12-month share price target of $32.25, which would represent a further upside of just over 2% from today's pricing. Not only is NAB the bank that Macquarie views as the pick of the bunch today, but it is the only ASX bank that Macquarie is positive on right now.
This ASX broker is eyeing the margin improvements that NAB is currently enjoying thanks to rising interest rates.
But Macquarie isn't the only ASX broker eyeing off NAB shares today. As we also covered earlier this week, fellow broker Goldman Sachs is also viewing NAB as a buy right now. Goldman has a 12-month price target of $35.15 on NAB, a good 11.3% higher than today's levels.
This broker also cites rising margins from rising rates for its optimism. It commented that it sees "volume momentum over the next 12 months as favouring commercial volumes over housing volumes and NAB provides the best exposure to this thematic".
So all in all, very good news from these ASX brokers for NAB shares and shareholders today. Let's see if the next 12 months prove whether their optimism is well placed.
In the meantime, the current NAB share price gives this ASX 200 bank a market capitalisation of $99.7 billion, with a dividend yield of 4.43%.
