Bye bye westpac, page-11

I just got this...Fri, 25 June at 9:32 am

Friday, 25 June 2021

WBC - WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION

Citi rates WBC as Buy (1) - Citi believes Westpac Banking Corp's decision to retain the New Zealand business Westpac NZ Ltd most likely reflects the complexities of divesting from a liquidity and capital perspective.

The broker suspects Westpac was likely ultimately faced with the decision of pre-funding the capital build prior to demerger, or demerging below book value, neither of which would be palatable.

Cit views today's decision as being indicative of the judgment call faced by peers, and consequently thinks the issue of divesting NZ subsidiaries has now been put to bed.

Buy rating and target price of $29.50 are both retained.

Target price is $29.50 Current Price is $25.83 Difference: $3.67 If WBC meets the Citi target it will return approximately 14% (excluding dividends, fees and charges). Current consensus price target is $28.49, suggesting upside of 10.3%(ex-dividends)The company's fiscal year ends in September.

Forecast for FY21:

Citi forecasts a full year FY21 dividend of 116.00 cents and EPS of 187.20 cents . At the last closing share price the estimated dividend yield is 4.49%. At the last closing share price the stock's estimated Price to Earnings Ratio (PER) is 13.80. How do these forecasts compare to market consensus projections?

Current consensus EPS estimate is 178.6, implying annual growth of 180.2%. Current consensus DPS estimate is 116.0, implying a prospective dividend yield of 4.5%. Current consensus EPS estimate suggests the PER is 14.5.

Forecast for FY22:

Citi forecasts a full year FY22 dividend of 118.00 cents and EPS of 181.00 cents . At the last closing share price the estimated dividend yield is 4.57%. At the last closing share price the stock's estimated Price to Earnings Ratio (PER) is 14.27. How do these forecasts compare to market consensus projections?

Current consensus EPS estimate is 182.9, implying annual growth of 2.4%. Current consensus DPS estimate is 124.3, implying a prospective dividend yield of 4.8%. Current consensus EPS estimate suggests the PER is 14.1.

Market Sentiment: 0.7All consensus data are updated until yesterday. FNArena's consensus calculations require a minimum of three sources