KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $68.55 and last traded at $68.24, with a volume of 2368 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

KBC Group Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a market cap of $57.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.00.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. KBC Group had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 15.91%. Equities analysts expect that KBC Group SA will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current 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.