Despite all of the volatility this year, the ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has delivered positive returns for shareholders in the last five years, as the chart below shows.
According to CMC Invest, it has delivered an average total shareholder return (TSR) of 11% in the past five years.
A significant portion of those returns has been the dividend payments, but the ASX bank share has also delivered adequate capital gains for investors.
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How many ANZ shares we could buy in 2021
Five years ago, Australia's economy and the ASX bank share sector was still dealing with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But, the ANZ share price had already recovered back to its pre-COVID levels as investors regained confidence following the significant market support by central banks.
So, five years ago, with $10,000 an Australian investor would have been able to buy 350 ANZ shares.
What about now?
Since April 2021, the ANZ share price has since risen to an all-time high of above $40, though it has since dropped back a bit amid the Iran war.
At the time of writing, in the last five years, the ANZ share price has climbed by 27%.
If someone were to invest $10,000 today into the ASX bank share, they'd only be able to buy 276 ANZ shares. In other words, approximately 25% less shares than before.
What caused the ANZ share price to rise?
There are two key factors that decide how a valuation moves – how much profit it generates and the multiple of earnings investors are willing to pay.
The most recent update from the ASX bank share was the FY26 first quarter update where it reported $1.87 billion of statutory net profit and $1.9 billion of cash net profit. That compares to the FY21 first quarter where it generated $1.6 billion of statutory net profit and $1.8 billion of cash profit.
In other words, over five years, its first-quarter statutory net profit has increased 16.9% and the cash net profit has increased just over 5%.
Therefore, it seems to me like investors are willing to pay a higher price/earnings (P/E) ratio for the ASX bank share.
According to the projection on Commsec, the ANZ share price is now valued at 14x FY26's estimated earnings.
