ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares closed 0.4% higher on the last day in June, at $35.35 a piece.
Over the course of the month, the ASX bank stock increased by around 1%, ending around 3% lower for the year-to-date, but an impressive 21% higher over the year.
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What happened to ANZ shares in FY26?
ANZ shares were choppy throughout the 12 months to 30th of June. But the bank was the strongest performer among the big four majors over the year.
ANZ was one of the few banking giants that posted a positive first-half FY26 update last month.
In early May, the bank reported a 70% jump in its cash profit for the first half of FY26. Statutory profit was also up 62%, operating income was up 3%, and the bank's operating expenses were 22% lower.
ANZ also confirmed it has now achieved 49% of its gross cost-savings target of $800 million for FY26.
It has also made progress reducing costs and simplifying operations, improving its cost-to-income ratio under its ANZ 2030 strategy. It looks like investors generally viewed this positively. But it seems that they still want evidence that revenue growth can improve over time.
If this happens, I think we could see a turnaround for ANZ shares for FY27.
Are the ASX 200 banking giant's shares a buy, sell or hold for FY27?
Sentiment about the outlook for ANZ shares over the next 12 months is relatively mixed.
Market Index data shows brokers are split between a buy and a hold rating. But the average $36.35 target price implies a potential 3% upside at the time of writing.
TradingView analysts are a little more bearish. Out of 16 analysts, eight have a hold rating on ANZ shares. Another six rate the bank stock as a buy or strong buy and two rate the shares as a sell or strong sell.
The average $34.91 target price, however, implies a potential 1% downside at the time of writing. However the range between the minimum and maximum is huge. Some tip the shares to increase another 15% to $40.50 in FY27, while others think there's potential for ANZ shares to fall 29% to $24.96, at the time of writing.
Citi analysts recently confirmed their buy rating and $39.25 price target on this banking giant's shares. The broker isn't concerned about credit risk but notes that the economy is in a challenging place and there are macro headwinds facing the banking sector. But the broker likes ANZ due to its exposure to business banking.
UBS is slightly more bearish and rates ANZ shares as a hold. But its $36.50 price target is still higher than the average.
