How did the AMP share price perform in October?

The AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price has undergone a steady recovery throughout October.

Shares of the financial services company opened at $1.09 on 3 October and closed at $1.26 on 31 October for an appreciable 15.6% gain.

This was a sharp rebound from September's performance when AMP shares were sold off mid-month. The sell-off bled into October with the AMP share price hitting a low of $1.06 on 3 October, a level unseen since the end of July.

But the last month has provided some reasons for investors to feel optimistic. Let's cover the highlights.

AMP October recap

AMP shares made a new 52-week high yesterday to end the month at $1.26 apiece as the share price rode on some positive developments built earlier in the month.

Just last week, there were arguments AMP is being potentially undervalued on a price-to-book (P/B) basis. My Fool colleague Brooke notes the company has a P/B ratio of around 0.8, which may compare favourably to other ASX financial shares.

Continuing the line that AMP could be trading at a discount to its intrinsic value, a fund manager singled out AMP as being a dividend share "of particular interest". Bennelong Kardinia Absolute Return Fund portfolio manager Kristiaan Rehder thinks it has "considerable excess capital" and says it may "surprise the market in regards to the extent of its capital returns in the near term".

Prior to that, on 17 October, my colleague Tristian noted that AMP's $350 million on-market share buyback program has coincided with a modest share price gain since it was rolled out in August.

So, all in all, there's been some positive speculation around the company which may have fuelled its share price recovery throughout October.

AMP share price snapshot

AMP shares are currently trading for $1.26 each, steady on yesterday's closing price.

The AMP share price is up an impressive 26% year to date. That's certainly outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) — it's down around 8% over the same period.

The company's market capitalisation is around $3.95 billion.