Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) Shares Cross Above 50-Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank's shares recently crossed above their 50-day moving average of $41.84, trading as high as $46.36 before closing at $46.15.
• Analysts are optimistic about the stock, with three strong buy ratings and an average rating of "Buy," indicating favorable growth prospects.
• The bank reported earnings of $0.96 per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate, while revenue met expectations at $3.21 billion.

Erste Group Bank AG (OTCMKTS:EBKDY - Get Free Report) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.84 and traded as high as $46.36. Erste Group Bank shares last traded at $46.15, with a volume of 50,598 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBKDY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Erste Group Bank in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Erste Group Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Erste Group Bank Trading Up 0.3%

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $42.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.24. The firm has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.09.

Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.21 billion. Erste Group Bank had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 16.22%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Erste Group Bank AG will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Erste Group Bank Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were given a $1.1657 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Erste Group Bank's payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

About Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank AG provides a range of banking and other financial services to retail, corporate, and public sector customers. The company operates through Retail, Corporates, Group Markets, Asset/Liability Management & Local Corporate Center, Savings Banks, and Group Corporate Center segments. It provides mortgage and consumer loans, investment products, current accounts, savings products, and credit cards, as well as cross selling products, such as leasing, insurance, and building society products.