Last week, ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) released its eagerly anticipated half year results.
The banking giant reported a 5% increase in revenue to $10,995 million and a 12% lift in cash profit to $3,568 million compared to the second half of FY 2024.
A key driver of this growth was the acquisition of the Suncorp Bank business, which was completed at the end of July 2024.
Despite its strong cash profit growth, the company's board decided to keep its interim dividend steady at 83 cents per share. This dividend will be 70% franked.
The bank's shares will go ex-dividend for this next week on 13 May, which means there's still a little bit of time for investors to get hold of this.
But what's next for the ANZ dividend? Let's take a look at what analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) are saying about its payouts.
ANZ dividend forecast
According to a note, Macquarie is expecting ANZ to pay a smaller dividend with its full year results later this year.
It has pencilled in a partially franked final dividend of 73 cents per share, bringing its total dividends to 156 cents per share for FY 2025. This is down 6% year on year from 166 cents per share in FY 2024.
Unfortunately for shareholders, Macquarie believes that another dividend cut is coming in FY 2026. It is forecasting a partially franked payout of 146 cents per share for that financial year. This is down 6.4% on FY 2025's payout.
The cuts will stop in FY 2027 according to Macquarie, with the broker forecasting a steady payout of 146 cents per share for the year.
Based on the current ANZ share price of $28.98, this will mean dividend yields of 5.4%, 5%, and 5%, respectively, over the next three financial years.
Should you invest?
At present, Macquarie thinks that investors should keep their powder dry when it comes to ANZ shares.
In response to the results, the broker retained its neutral rating with a trimmed price target of $27.50. It said:
ANZ trades at ~13x forward P/E, representing an 18-19% discount to NAB and WBC. Despite trading at a substantial relative discount to peers, we expect the market to remain cautious about the outlook, and this result is unlikely to provide a catalyst for re-rating. Maintain Neutral.
