KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 86,505 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 213% from the previous session’s volume of 27,626 shares.The stock last traded at $68.16 and had previously closed at $68.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KBCSY. Zacks Research lowered KBC Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of KBC Group in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

KBC Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $56.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.96.

KBC Group (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. KBC Group had a return on equity of 13.51% and a net margin of 14.98%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KBC Group SA will post 5.88 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.