It's been a pretty horrid start to the trading week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has lost a nasty 0.79%, dragging the index back below 6,900 points. But it's been a different story for Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) shares.
Macquarie shares are actually in the green today, despite the broader market's pessimism. This ASX investment bank closed at $161.59 a share last week but is currently up by 0.64% at $162.63.
However, this gain masks something a little more depressing that happened to Macquarie this morning. Macquarie shares started the trading week off in negative territory today. So much so that we even saw this ASX bank share hit a new 52-week low this morning. Yep, soon after market open, Macquarie's share price dipped down to $159.75 – the new 52-week low.
It's been a rough year for Macquarie shares. It was only back in early February that Macquarie was at its current 52-week high of almost $196 a share. So investors have had to endure a near-17% drop in the Macquarie share price over the past eight months or so.
However, Macquarie Group is an ASX 200 blue-chip share that is loved by many investors for its capital growth potential. Not to mention its generous dividend income.
As it stands today, Macquarie shares remain up by more than 46% over the past five years and are trading at a dividend yield of over 4.6%. Here's a visual look at that former metric:
So perhaps some investors are wondering whether this new 52-week low is a buying opportunity for this popular ASX 200 share. Well, let's see what the ASX brokers reckon about that.
Image source: Getty Images
Are Macquarie shares a buy today?
One broker who reckons Macquarie shares represent great value today is Morgans. As my Fool colleague James covered just last week, Morgans has recently given Macquarie shares an add rating. That's alongside a 12-month share price target of $194.40.
Morgans likes Macquarie's exposure to "structural growth areas such as infrastructure and renewables". If Morgans is on the money with its share price target, investors could see an upside of almost 20% over the coming 12 months from today's pricing.
But Morgans isn't the only broker that's currently bullish on Macquarie. We've also recently analysed the views of fellow ASX broker UBS. UBS also has a buy rating on Macquarie shares, with an even higher share price target of $196.
UBS acknowledges that Macquarie's earnings are currently under pressure, but reckons this is the perfect time for a long-term investment, considering that pessimism is already baked into the bank's share price.
No doubt Macquarie investors will be delighted with these assessments. But let's see where the Macquarie share price heads from here.
