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

KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.35 and last traded at $72.30, with a volume of 15442 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

KBC Group Trading Up 2.6%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.54.

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

KBC Group Company Profile

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.