Investors like ANZ

12/03/2010

ANZ has emerged as the major bank most in favour with banking sector analysts after the latest round of interim and quarterly reports. Among the group of analysts who supply their recommendations to FinAnalysis, ANZ has improved its average rating from 2.6 two months ago and 2.3 a month ago to the current average rating of 2.2 (the scale is: 1 is a strong buy, 2 is a buy, 3 is a hold and 4 is a sell).

Two of the brokers have ANZ as a strong buy. NAB has one broker recommending it as a strong buy, while Commonwealth and Westpac have no strong buy recommendations. Commonwealth’s average rating, at 3, is unchanged over the past two months. NAB’s average has come in from 3 to 2.5 over the same period and Westpac’s rating has come in from 3.3 to 3.

In a report issued on March 1, Citi’s banking analyst Craig Williams said he favoured ANZ and Westpac on a 12-month view. Macquarie Research has an outperform recommendation on Westpac. UBS also noted Westpac’s improvement in asset quality but was more impressed by Commonwealth’s return on equity of 19 per cent.

Source: Banking Day