Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Erste Group Bank AG (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. Approximately 210,775 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 167% from the previous session’s volume of 78,957 shares.The stock last traded at $67.11 and had previously closed at $65.36.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Erste Group Bank in a report on Friday, April 17th. Zacks Research cut Erste Group Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Erste Group Bank in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Erste Group Bank presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Erste Group Bank Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $52.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.12.

Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Erste Group Bank had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 10.96%. Sell-side analysts expect that Erste Group Bank AG will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Erste Group Bank Company Profile

Erste Group Bank AG is an Austrian banking group headquartered in Vienna that operates as a universal bank serving retail, corporate and institutional customers. The group offers a broad range of financial services including deposit-taking, lending, mortgage financing, payment and transaction banking, and wealth management. Erste Group also provides capital markets services, corporate and investment banking solutions, and a range of insurance and pension-linked products through partnerships and subsidiary operations.

Erste Group maintains a significant regional presence beyond Austria, with operations across several Central and Eastern European countries.