ANZ Group Holdings Limited (ASX: ANZ) entered the final stretch of 2025 with its share price still near multi-month highs — but with investors juggling two very different storylines at once: a strong run in bank stocks and dividends on one side, and a fresh wave of governance and regulatory headlines on the other.
As of 23 December 2025, ANZ shares were trading around A$36.68 (after a previous close near A$36.27), moving within an intraday range of roughly A$36.15 to A$36.77, and inside a 52‑week range of about A$26.22 to A$38.93. [1]
That price level caps a year in which ANZ has climbed roughly 28% in calendar 2025 (depending on the reference close), while its 52‑week price change has been over 30% — an unusually punchy run for a major bank that’s simultaneously spending heavily on remediation and culture change. [2]
Below is a detailed look at the key ANZ stock news, dividend updates, and today’s analyst forecasts shaping the ANZ investment case on 23.12.2025.
ANZ share price today: where the stock sits on 23 December 2025
Market data published on 23 December shows ANZ trading around A$36.675, up from a previous close around A$36.270, with the day’s trading contained within a relatively tight range (roughly A$36.15–A$36.77). [3]
That matters because it frames how investors appear to be treating the latest legal and governance headlines: as serious, but — at least for now — not thesis-breaking for the big-picture earnings-and-dividend story.
A good example came last week. After the Federal Court increased penalties tied to ASIC proceedings, ABC reported ANZ shares were still trading higher intraday (about 1% up around A$36.40) during the session in which the fine dominated business coverage. [4]
The biggest ANZ headline into Christmas: Federal Court confirms A$250 million combined penalties
The dominant headline risk in late December is ANZ’s combined A$250 million penalty outcome linked to multiple ASIC matters.
What happened
ASIC announced the Federal Court ordered A$250 million in combined penalties against ANZ, after hearings in early December and judgment delivered on 19 December 2025. ASIC said ANZ had admitted misconduct in September 2025, and the bank and regulator had jointly proposed A$240 million — but the Court ultimately lifted the total figure. [5]
ANZ separately confirmed the Court imposed an additional A$10 million penalty relating to inaccurate monthly secondary bond turnover data reporting (lifting that component from A$40 million to A$50 million) and taking the combined figure to A$250 million. [6]
Penalty breakdown (high level)
Reuters summarized the penalties across institutional/markets and retail matters, including:
- A$135 million for institutional and markets breaches (including conduct and inaccurate reporting), and
- Retail-related penalties including A$40 million for hardship notices, A$40 million tied to savings-rate representations/underpayments, and A$35 million relating to fees and processes affecting deceased customers. [7]
ANZ’s court-ordered notice provides more detail on several of the retail proceedings — including A$35 million tied to deceased estates handling, A$40 million for representations about interest on certain Online Saver accounts, and A$40 million for hardship notice process failures — alongside remediation figures and the affected time periods. [8]
Why the stock didn’t crater (so far)
ANZ told the market the financial impact of the revised civil penalties and ASIC’s costs was almost wholly covered by existing provisions, including a A$240 million penalty provision already in place. [9]
That doesn’t make the episode “cheap” reputationally — but it helps explain why equity investors have treated the final number as incremental rather than existential, particularly in a sector that’s been bid up on income and defensiveness.
Governance pressure: second “strike” on pay, CEO bonus scrapped, and a former CEO lawsuit
Regulatory penalties have spilled directly into ANZ’s boardroom politics — and those politics are now part of the stock narrative.
Second strike on remuneration
Reuters reported that at ANZ’s 2025 annual general meeting, 32.36% of shareholders voted against the remuneration report (above the 25% threshold that constitutes a “strike” under Australia’s rules). It was the second consecutive strike, escalating pressure on the board and executive team. [10]
CEO Nuno Matos forgoes his short-term bonus
In response to shareholder backlash, ANZ said its new CEO Nuno Matos would voluntarily relinquish his short‑term bonus for the year, even as the underlying issues pre‑dated his tenure. [11]
Board spill vote failed
While the strike mechanism can lead to a board spill resolution, reporting from The Guardian said a vote to oust the board ultimately failed, even as the strike itself landed. [12]
Former CEO Shayne Elliott sues over A$13.5 million in bonuses
Adding another layer, ABC reported former ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott launched legal action after the bank stripped A$13.5 million in bonuses, with ANZ saying it would defend the matter. The ABC coverage links the bonus reductions to accountability expectations and the bank’s broader regulatory issues. [13]
For investors, this cluster of stories matters because it affects risk premium: banks can trade on dividends and rates for long stretches, but governance blow-ups can quickly change what multiple the market is willing to pay.
ANZ dividend update: 83c final dividend paid, full-year dividend 166c
Dividend investors have had a very concrete reason to stay interested in ANZ despite the headlines: cash distributions are still large and steady.
ANZ’s board proposed a 2025 final dividend of 83 cents per share, partially franked at 70%, and ANZ’s shareholder information shows it was paid on 19 December 2025 (with an ex‑date of 13 November 2025 and record date 14 November 2025).
In CEO remarks alongside the FY2025 result, ANZ also stated the final dividend brought the full‑year dividend to 166 cents per share. [14]
What that implies for yield (in plain English)
With ANZ trading in the mid‑A$36 range on 23 December, a trailing full-year dividend of A$1.66 implies a cash dividend yield around 4.5%–4.6%, before any value investors may attribute to franking credits (noting the dividend is partially franked). [15]
ANZ also noted that its final dividend reinvestment plan/bonus option plan discount was 1.5% and highlighted that integration of Suncorp Bank (completed in 2024) is expected to support franking credit generation over time.
Fundamentals check: profit, capital, costs — and the multi-year remediation arc
A bank stock ultimately lives or dies by a small number of boring (but powerful) levers: earnings stability, credit quality, capital strength, and costs. On those, ANZ is trying to convince the market it can be both safer and simpler.
FY2025 performance and capital
ANZ’s full-year reporting materials said its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 12.03%, and Bluenotes coverage noted FY2025 cash profit of A$6,896 million excluding significant items. [16]
In the CEO’s investor briefing remarks, ANZ also said it had ceased the remainder of its share buyback and was returning surplus capital from its non-operating holding company, pointing to a pro‑forma CET1 ratio of 12.26%. [17]
Job cuts and simplification
ANZ has framed much of 2025 as a “fix and rebuild” year. In the same remarks, CEO Nuno Matos said ANZ had announced the reduction of 3,500 roles by September 2026, alongside the exit of 1,000 managed services consultants, as part of reducing duplication and complexity. [18]
Culture and compliance: ANZ’s remediation plan is measured in years, not quarters
The market often talks like culture is soft and fuzzy. Regulators treat it like plumbing: invisible when it works, catastrophic when it doesn’t.
ANZ’s own Root Cause Analysis summary (November 2025) said APRA approved ANZ’s Enterprise Root‑Cause Remediation Plan submitted on 30 September 2025, with Promontory appointed as the independent reviewer and already issuing initial reporting on adequacy and governance arrangements. [19]
That same ANZ summary describes behavioral drivers behind non‑financial risk weaknesses — including reluctance to challenge and deliver bad news and a “‘good news’ culture” that can mask problems — and notes the execution of the remediation plan is expected to take approximately three to four years to design, implement and embed across the enterprise. [20]
Reuters has echoed this theme externally, reporting that ANZ’s CEO told lawmakers the bank needed a cultural overhaul and noting the lender has faced numerous civil penalty cases over the past decade. [21]
For ANZ stock, this matters because multi‑year remediation tends to mean sustained spending, management attention diverted from growth, and an elevated probability of more “surprise” issues surfacing — even if the end state is a stronger franchise.
Interest rates and mortgage competition: the macro backdrop investors can’t ignore
Even when a bank is cleaning up internally, the external environment still drives margins and credit risk.
Australia: competition and standards
Reuters reported earlier that Australia’s regulator warned banks not to reduce lending standards to win market share in a competitive home-lending market — a reminder that mortgage growth can come at the cost of risk, especially when price competition heats up. [22]
New Zealand: customers moving toward fixed rates
Across the Tasman, RNZ reported ANZ had seen more customers asking about switching from floating to fixed home loan rates as retail mortgage rates started rising. [23]
And ANZ New Zealand also published rate change updates in late November after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lowered the OCR, outlining adjustments to floating home loan and savings rates. [24]
Macro conditions like these feed into ANZ’s outlook via net interest margins, deposit competition, and credit losses — the classic bank-stock trio.
ANZ stock forecast: what analysts expect from here
With ANZ trading in the high A$30s, a lot of good news is arguably “in the price.” That shows up in consensus targets.
MarketScreener: average target below the current price
MarketScreener’s analyst consensus shows a HOLD stance from 14 analysts, with an average target price around A$35.21 versus a last close around A$36.27, and a target range from roughly A$30.00 (low) to A$40.40 (high). [25]
TipRanks: Hold consensus, targets clustered in the mid‑A$30s
TipRanks lists a consensus Hold rating based on a mix of buy/hold/sell calls and an average 12‑month price target of A$35.00, with a high forecast around A$40.46 and low forecast around A$30.12. [26]
Investing.com: Neutral rating, similar target range
Investing.com’s compiled analyst targets similarly put an average target around A$35.20665, with a high estimate of A$40.4 and a low estimate of A$30, and an overall Neutral rating split between buys and sells. [27]
Valuation multiples (context, not prophecy)
StockAnalysis lists ANZ around a trailing P/E of ~18.46, forward P/E ~14.78, and price‑to‑book ~1.50 (site estimates), which can be useful for comparing ANZ to peers — but investors should treat third‑party valuation tables as approximations and verify against primary filings. [28]
Quant-style models: fair value and growth estimates vary
Simply Wall St, for example, suggests ANZ is trading below its estimate of fair value and forecasts earnings growth — but these are model-driven outputs and can diverge meaningfully depending on assumptions (rates, margins, credit). [29]
Bottom line: across multiple consensus aggregators, ANZ is widely viewed as a hold/neutral at current levels, with targets slightly below the latest price — implying the market is already paying up for dividends and stability, while discounting ongoing remediation and governance risk.
One smaller (but notable) 23 December filing: ANZ-linked entities and Oceania Healthcare
Not all ANZ-linked headlines are about ANZ’s own balance sheet. On 23 December 2025, TipRanks reported ANZ-related New Zealand entities disclosed a movement of 1% or more in their substantial holding of Oceania Healthcare, with aggregated interests holding just over 10% after on-market trading activity through mid‑November to 23 December. [30]
This is not a core driver of ANZ’s valuation — but it’s a reminder that “ANZ” news can also surface via institutional holdings and custody/investment entities tied to the group.
What to watch next for ANZ shares heading into 2026
ANZ stock is finishing 2025 priced like a high-quality income franchise — but carrying a live “execution tax.” The next catalysts that matter most are:
- Evidence the remediation program is working (and not endlessly expanding). ANZ’s own materials frame this as a multi-year build. [31]
- Whether governance noise fades or escalates, especially around executive pay and any spill-over from ongoing litigation. [32]
- Margin pressure vs. loan growth in a competitive mortgage market, and whether standards stay tight as regulators insist. [33]
- Interest-rate expectations in Australia and New Zealand, which can shift deposit pricing and borrower stress in both directions. [34]
- Next reporting milestones, including the market’s next major checkpoint for updated financials (one estimate pegs ANZ’s next earnings date in early May 2026). [35]
ANZ ends 2025 as a classic “two-handed” bank stock: one hand holds an attractive dividend stream and a strong capital position; the other holds a thick folder marked culture, controls, and court judgments. On 23 December 2025, the market is still willing to own the income — but it’s not offering much upside premium until ANZ proves (quarter by quarter) that remediation is turning into durable execution.
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. www.intelligentinvestor.com.au, 3. www.investing.com, 4. www.abc.net.au, 5. www.asic.gov.au, 6. www.anz.com.au, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.anz.com.au, 9. www.anz.com.au, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.theguardian.com, 13. www.abc.net.au, 14. www.anz.com.au, 15. www.investing.com, 16. www.anz.com.au, 17. www.anz.com.au, 18. www.anz.com.au, 19. www.anz.com.au, 20. www.anz.com.au, 21. www.reuters.com, 22. www.reuters.com, 23. www.rnz.co.nz, 24. www.anz.com.au, 25. www.marketscreener.com, 26. www.tipranks.com, 27. www.investing.com, 28. stockanalysis.com, 29. simplywall.st, 30. www.tipranks.com, 31. www.anz.com.au, 32. www.reuters.com, 33. www.reuters.com, 34. www.rnz.co.nz, 35. stockanalysis.com
