The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slipped 1.4% in September, with a mixed performance from the big four ASX 200 bank stocks.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) was the weakest performer. CBA shares closed out August trading for $170.30 and ended September trading for $166.90 each. This put the CBA share price down 2.0% over the month just past, trailing the ASX 200.
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) also lost ground. ANZ shares finished August at $33.67 each and closed out September trading for $33.21 apiece. This put the ANZ share price down 1.4% over the month, in line with the losses of the benchmark index.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares managed to buck the losing trend. Shares in the ASX 200 bank stock closed at $38.61 on 29 August and closed at $38.97 on 30 September. That saw the ANZ share price up 0.9% over the month.
And National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares led the charge among the big four ASX 200 bank stocks. NAB shares closed out August at $42.79 and ended September trading for $44.15 each. This saw NAB shares up 3.2% for the month.
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What happened with ASX 200 bank stocks in September?
While there was no price-sensitive news out from CBA, Australia's biggest bank continues to be targeted by analysts citing concerns over its relative overvaluation.
That includes Morgans' Damien Nguyen. Early in September, Nguyen said:
The CBA remains Australia's most profitable bank, with a sector-leading return on equity and a dominant position in mortgages and deposits. However, in our view, its share price has surged well beyond fundamentals, trading at a significant premium to peers…
While CBA's quality is undisputed, we believe the risk-reward profile at current levels is unfavourable.
Eligible investors will also have received the final fully franked CBA dividend of $2.60 a share on 29 September. As the ASX 200 bank stock traded ex-dividend on 20 August, that won't have had an impact on CBA's September share price performance.
There was also no new price-sensitive news out from either Westpac or NAB in September.
Notably, however, NAB shares closed at a new all-time high of $44.29 on 29 September. (Shares have since surpassed that in October.)
What about ANZ shares?
There were two price-sensitive announcements out from ANZ last month.
On 9 September, shares in the ASX 200 bank stock closed down 0.2% after the company announced the pending dismissal of some 3,500 employees as part of its restructuring program.
ANZ shares slipped another 0.5% on 15 September, after the bank reported it had reached an agreement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to resolve five different investigations.
ANZ said it will pay a total of $240 million in penalties to settle the issues.
