Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares and one of the other big four S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank stocks outperformed the benchmark in October.
Two of the big Aussie banks underperformed.
In the month just past the ASX 200 gained a modest, but welcome, 0.4%.
Among the underperformers was National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares.
NAB shares closed out September trading for $44.15 and ended October at $43.62. That saw the NAB share price down 1.2% over the month.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares also slipped in October. Westpac shares closed at $38.97 on 30 September and were trading for $38.74 apiece when the closing bell sounded on 31 October. That put the Westpac share price down 0.6% over the month.
ANZ and CBA shares outperform
As mentioned, CBA shares outpaced the benchmark in the month just past.
CommBank stock closed September at $166.90 and ended October at $171.62. This saw CBA shares up 2.8% over the month.
But it was ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares that led the charge.
ANZ shares closed trading for $33.21 on 30 September and were changing hands for $36.65 apiece at the end of trade on 31 October. This saw ANZ shares up an impressive 10.4% over the month.
Why did ANZ shares leap ahead of the pack?
ANZ shares outperformed Westpac, NAB and CBA shares in October in part because the ASX 200 bank stock caught investor interest following the release of the ANZ 2030 strategy update on 13 October.
The update highlighted ANZ's immediate priorities as well as its strategic focus over the next five years.
Commenting on the five-year plan, ANZ's CEO Nuno Matos said on the day, "Under these changes we will unlock our potential to win the preference of customers, shareholders and the community."
Matos added:
Our first focus is to get back to basics and deliver our immediate priorities, while our four strategic pillars will then accelerate our revenue growth and see all four divisions perform to their full potential.
In a competitive banking environment, this must include a focus on delivering differentiated and superior propositions, raising the standard of every digital and human interaction in our channels, and avoiding disintermediation, while materially improving productivity levels.
How have ANZ, Westpac, NAB and CBA shares been tracking?
We know how the ASX 200 bank stocks stacked up to the benchmark index in October.
As for the past 12 months, the ASX 200 has gained 8.3%.
Over this same time:
- CBA shares are up 18.2%
- Westpac shares are up 19.9%
- NAB shares are up 12.4%
- ANZ shares are up 17.1%
