It has been a big past year for the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has gone up more than 50% over the last year.

Indeed, it has actually risen by 51.5% over that 12 month period.

It has substantially outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over that same timeframe. The ASX 200 has gone up by around 23% in the last 12 months.

Recent results

Last year, at the end of October 2020, the big four ASX bank announced a FY20 result that was heavily impacted by the effects of COVID-19 on the economy.

ANZ reported statutory profit after tax of $3.58 billion, down 40%. Continuing cash profit was down 42% to $3.76 billion.

The big bank said in that FY20 reported that its total provision charge was up 244% to $2.74 billion.

ANZ’s board decided to reduce the annual dividend by $1 per share to $0.60 per share.

At the time, the big bank said that it wasn’t going to wait for the next event to happen. ANZ said it was well placed to respond to the opportunities that were emerging as a result of accelerated structural shifts in the economy.

The ANZ share price has risen 45% since the release of the full year result.

But the latest result was actually the FY21 half-year result.

ANZ compared the first half of FY21 against the last six months of FY20. Statutory profit after tax rose 45% to $2.94 billion, whilst continuing cash profit increased 28% to $2.99 billion. However, profit before credit impairment, tax and significant items dropped 4%.

The HY21 result saw a total provision net release of $491 million. Despite ongoing uncertainty, the collective provision release is a result of the improving economic outlook over the course of the half, as well as some loan volume reductions. The bank explained that home loan and small business customers have behaved prudently by building savings buffers through the half.

The major bank doubled its half-year dividend to $0.70 per share.

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliot said:

ANZ is in a strong position both financially and operationally. We are well capitalised and our disciplined approach to costs over many years has us well placed to invest in opportunities to grow our business in targeted segments. The work to digitise core processes and platforms at pace and this will be more visible to customers towards the end of the year.

Is the ANZ share price worth looking at?

One of the latest broker ratings on ANZ shares came from Morgans. It has a price target of $34.50, which suggests a potential rise of the share price of more than 20% over the next 12 months (if Morgans is right).

The broker thinks that ANZ is good value with a good balance sheet and improving costs.

Morgans thinks that ANZ shares are priced at 11x FY22’s estimated earnings with a projected FY22 grossed-up dividend yield of 8.4%.

The post It has been a big past year for the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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