KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Hits New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $53.24 and last traded at $53.22, with a volume of 339 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of KBC Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of KBC Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th.

KBC Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $44.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.58.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.03 billion. KBC Group had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 14.50%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KBC Group SA will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KBC Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $1.1873 per share. This is an increase from KBC Group's previous dividend of $0.33. This represents a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. KBC Group's payout ratio is currently 51.43%.

KBC Group Company Profile

KBC Group NV, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated bank-insurance services primarily for retail, private banking, small and medium sized enterprises, and mid-cap clients. The company offers demand deposits and savings accounts; home and mortgage loans; consumer finance and SME funding services; credit, investment fund and asset management, and life and non-life insurance; and cash management, payments, trade finance, lease, money market, capital market products, and stockbroking services.