The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has struggled this past month.
Despite a strong start to the year, shares in the banking giant have tumbled 4.3% in the past 30 days.
Let's take a look at what's been dragging the ANZ share price lower.
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What's weighing ANZ down?
In the past 30 days, ANZ has not released any pertinent news that could explain the decline in its share price.
Instead, it could be feeling the repercussions of weaker sentiment for the overall sector.
Some market experts have flagged that big banks like ANZ could feel the impact of lockdowns in the medium term. According to the commentary, a moderating volume of new loans and housing price growth could slow near-term growth prospects for banks.
Outlook for ANZ shares
Despite the gloomy outlook on the overall banking sector, some experts are bullish on the outlook for ANZ.
A recent note from leading broker Morgans has painted a positive forecast for the Big Four bank. Analysts upgraded their rating on ANZ's shares, issuing a price target of $34.50.
In addition, the broker noted that ANZ could benefit from treasury and markets income if the bank continued to focus on absolute cost reductions.
Also, shares in the bank could be poised to benefit if ANZ improved the quality of its loan book.
Analysts also cited the bank's recent forecast dividends of $1.45 per share in FY21 and $1.65 per share in FY22.
Snapshot of the ANZ share price
Despite a weaker month, the ANZ share price has surged more than 21% since the start of the year. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has only managed to claw 12% higher for 2021.
Several catalysts have helped propel the ANZ share price higher this year. In particular, the banking giant reported a strong first-half report for FY21 earlier this year.
The report highlighted a 45% increase in statutory profit after tax of $2.94 billion. Continuing operations cash profit also increased 28% to $2.99 billion.
ANZ also announced its intention to buy back up to $1.5 billion of shares on-market as part of its capital management plan.
At the time of writing, shares in ANZ have started today's session stronger. They are trading at $27.64, which is up 0.47%.
