Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Erste Group Bank in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Erste Group Bank in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Erste Group Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Erste Group Bank in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Erste Group Bank has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Erste Group Bank Stock Performance

Erste Group Bank stock opened at $66.07 on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank has a one year low of $45.19 and a one year high of $68.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.84.

Erste Group Bank (OTCMKTS:EBKDY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Erste Group Bank had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 10.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Erste Group Bank will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

About Erste Group Bank

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.