KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $66.93 and last traded at $66.90, with a volume of 1906 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $66.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KBCSY shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of KBC Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Barclays lowered shares of KBC Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of KBC Group in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Monday, November 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KBC Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

KBC Group Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.83. The stock has a market cap of $55.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.54.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. KBC Group had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 15.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KBC Group SA will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About KBC Group

KBC Group is a Belgian bank-insurance group headquartered in Brussels that combines retail and commercial banking with life and non-life insurance, asset management, leasing and related financial services. The company operates an integrated bank-insurance model designed to serve both individual consumers and corporate clients, offering deposit accounts, lending and mortgage products, payment and treasury services, pension and protection insurance, investment solutions and wealth management.

The group’s banking activities include retail and private banking, corporate and commercial banking, and specialized finance such as leasing and factoring.