KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of KBC Group SA (OTCMKTS:KBCSY) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KBCSY. Zacks Research lowered KBC Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays lowered KBC Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of KBC Group in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of KBC Group in a research note on Monday, November 17th.

KBC Group Price Performance

OTCMKTS:KBCSY opened at $68.33 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.24. KBC Group has a 1-year low of $37.25 and a 1-year high of $68.67. The firm has a market cap of $57.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.54.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. KBC Group had a net margin of 15.91% and a return on equity of 13.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KBC Group will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.