The big four banks have been caught up in the market mayhem this morning, all falling by more than 2%. Is now the time to buy Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA
) and its peers?
The “big four” Australian banks are Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), and Australian and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ). These four banks dominate the Australian market. For example, at the end of 2017, these banks held more than 80% of all Australian owner-occupier home loans.
What Happened This Morning?
The banks have been caught up in a down-day for the ASX, which has seen the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) fall by more than 2%.
At the time of writing, ANZ shares have fallen 2.87%, CBA shares are down 2.21%, Westpac is down 2.23% and NAB has been hit hardest, down 3.14%
The banks have been looking somewhat fragile lately and all four have been falling following the announcement of another rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). With the official cash rate now at 0.75%, the banks have been unable to pass on the full rate cut to most of their loan products.
This is a sign that they are starting to feel the pressure on their net interest margins (NIM), a key measure of profitability for banks.
Is There Safety In Dividends?
It might be tempting to seek comfort from the share price falls in the banks’ dividend yields. CBA and ANZ both offer trailing dividend yields around 5.5% while NAB and Westpac offer dividend yields above 6%.
However, keep in mind that the share price declines are in response to worsening conditions for the banks that will likely have flow-on effects to the dividends paid. NAB has already cut its dividend this year and several of the other banks had to increase their payout ratios just to maintain dividends.
All things considered, I’m not rushing to buy the banks for their dividend yields. I think there are better options around, like the companies mentioned in the free report below.
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Disclosure: At the time of writing, Max does not have a financial interest in any of the companies mentioned.
