ANZ Group Holdings Limited (ASX: ANZ) Stock: Share Price, Latest News, Analyst Forecasts and 2026 Outlook (26 December 2025)

ANZ Group Holdings Limited (ASX: ANZ) heads into the final days of 2025 with its share price near the top end of this year’s range—and with investors trying to balance two competing storylines.

On one side: a large, systemically important bank paying a dependable dividend, talking up simplification, cost-out, and a multi‑year strategy reset. On the other: a rolling sequence of governance and compliance headlines—culminating in a record combined penalty from the regulator—and renewed scrutiny of culture, risk controls, and executive accountability.

As of 26 December 2025, ANZ shares are indicated around A$36.30, valuing the group at roughly A$109.4 billion market cap. ^[1]

ANZ share price today: where the stock sits on 26 December 2025

Because Boxing Day is a market holiday in Australia, “today’s” read on ANZ is best understood as the most recent available pricing and the year’s trading envelope.

Key reference points investors are watching:

Share price: ~A$36.30 (26 December 2025 indication) ^[2]
52‑week range: roughly A$26.22 to A$38.93 ^[3]
2025 performance: Intelligent Investor’s data shows ANZ started 2025 near A$28.43 and finished around A$36.30, a gain of about 27–28% over the year (price-only). ^[4]

That strong run matters because it raises the bar for 2026: when a big bank rerates upward, the market typically demands either (a) better earnings durability than feared, (b) lower risk than priced, or (c) both.

The biggest ANZ stock headlines hitting investors in late December 2025

1) Federal Court orders A$250 million combined penalty against ANZ

The most market-moving governance headline this month was the Federal Court penalty package tied to multiple misconduct matters. Reuters reported that ANZ was ordered to pay a combined A$250 million penalty across four separate cases, including issues linked to an Australian government bond deal and misconduct affecting retail customers. ^[5]

Reuters also detailed the mix of fines (including A$135 million for institutional/markets breaches tied to the bond matter, and additional penalties relating to hardship notices, savings-rate representations/interest underpayments, and fees charged to deceased customers). ^[6]

ASIC described the A$250 million outcome as the result of “widespread misconduct” and positioned it as the largest combined penalty it has secured against a single entity. ^[7]

Why it matters for the stock: penalties are one-off, but control failures can translate into ongoing remediation costs, tighter regulator attention, slower execution on strategy, and a higher “risk discount” applied by investors.

2) AGM “second strike” on remuneration report; CEO forgoes short-term bonus

At ANZ’s 2025 Annual General Meeting, shareholders delivered a second strike against the remuneration report (more than 25% voting against). Reuters reported 32.36% of shareholders voted against the pay report, triggering the second strike mechanism, while the CEO proposed to forgo his short-term variable remuneration for the year. ^[8]

ANZ’s ASX AGM results notice confirms the remuneration report was carried as an ordinary resolution, but with more than 25% voting against—constituting the second strike—and that the spill resolution was not carried. ^[9]

Why it matters: Australian “two strikes” events don’t automatically change bank earnings, but they can reshape board/management incentives—and they signal that a meaningful slice of the register wants stronger accountability and faster improvement on non-financial risk.

3) Former CEO Shayne Elliott launches legal action over bonus outcomes

Another headline investors are watching is litigation tied to bonus clawbacks. Reuters reported former ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott filed a claim relating to bonus reductions after the bank agreed to pay a civil penalty, and ANZ indicated it would defend the matter. ^[10]

ABC’s reporting put the dispute in a broader context of post‑scandal accountability and remuneration governance. ^[11]

ANZ also publicly acknowledged the legal action in its own statement. ^[12]

Why it matters: even if the financial sum is manageable, these cases can become precedents that influence how boards across the market implement malus/clawback frameworks—especially in heavily regulated sectors.

4) Boxing Day “quiet” tape, but not a quiet news cycle: scams, AI and trust

On 26 December 2025, The Australian reported that major banks including ANZ and Westpac are shifting AI investment priorities toward cybersecurity and scam detection, including tools such as behavioural biometrics and real‑time risk scoring. ^[13]

This theme matters for ANZ stock because scams and fraud sit at the intersection of customer trust, operational losses, and regulatory expectations. Investments that reduce scam losses can protect both reputation and long‑run cost-to-serve—though they also require careful governance and explainability.

What ANZ itself is saying: strategy reset, simplification, and service reach

Cost-out, buyback halt, and long-term return targets

In October, Reuters reported ANZ stopped the remaining ~A$800 million of a previously announced buyback as CEO Nuno Matos moved to build cash levels, simplify the bank and pursue market share—while maintaining dividends. Reuters also reported ANZ flagged A$800 million in pre‑tax cost savings (from job cuts, restructures and exits from non-core businesses), and a target of 12% return on tangible equity by 2028 (and 13% by 2030). ^[14]

Separately, Reuters reported ANZ took (or flagged) a ~A$1.11 billion after-tax profit hit for the second half tied to restructuring, redundancies, and regulatory settlement-related costs, among other items—underscoring that the “fix the bank” phase has real near-term financial weight. ^[15]

Culture and compliance: management framing

Reuters also reported Matos told lawmakers the bank needed a cultural overhaul and described ANZ as too complex with too much duplication—language that’s consistent with the simplification agenda but also a tacit admission that execution risk is real. ^[16]

Service footprint: Bank@Post and “more bankers”

In his AGM address, Matos said ANZ plans to increase bankers in key retail and business units by up to 50% over the next five years, while improving their tools and sharpening customer service focus. ^[17]

That service push is paired with distribution changes. ANZ’s Bank@Post launch with Australia Post gives customers access to services at 3,300+ participating post offices nationwide. ^[18]

For investors, this combination (more frontline capacity + broader access points) reads as an attempt to protect core franchises—especially mortgages and small business—at a time when digital competitors and major-bank rivalry remain intense.

Financial snapshot: what the FY2025 result implies for the stock

ANZ’s FY2025 communications are doing two jobs at once: defending the underlying earnings engine while explaining “significant items” tied to remediation and restructuring.

In its full‑year results news release, ANZ reported:

Cash Profit (excluding significant items): A$6,896 million (flat year-on-year, per the release’s framing) ^[19]
Significant items totalling A$1,109 million, including ASIC settlement and restructuring charges (as previously announced) ^[20]
Final dividend:83 cents per share, taking the full-year dividend to 166 cents, partially franked at 70% ^[21]
CET1 capital ratio:12.03% (and ANZ discussed a pro‑forma ratio of 12.26% inclusive of certain capital movements) ^[22]

On dividends specifically, ANZ’s dividend information page confirms the 83c final dividend was paid on 19 December 2025, partially franked at 70%, with a 1.5% discount applied to the DRP/BOP. It also lists key timetable items (ex-date, record date, DRP pricing period) and the DRP/BOP price used for the final dividend. ^[23]

A quick implication investors often compute from this: at ~A$36.30, a 166c full‑year dividend is a trailing cash yield of roughly 4.6% (before considering franking credits). That yield support is part of why bank stocks can stay resilient even when headline risk is noisy.

Analyst forecasts and consensus view: cautious optimism, but not a “slam dunk” buy

After a strong 2025 run, the core question for ANZ stock becomes: is the market already pricing in most of the turnaround?

As of late December:

MarketScreener shows a mean consensus: HOLD on ANZ, with 14 analysts covering the stock. It lists an average target price of A$35.21 versus a last close of A$36.30 (about 3% downside), with a high target of A$40.40 and low target of A$30.00. ^[24]
Simply Wall St’s valuation snapshot lists ANZ on about 18.4x earnings and compares that with its modelled “fair” P/E of 21x (their framework suggests ANZ is not obviously expensive on that specific lens, though models vary). ^[25]

Taken together, the Street’s posture looks like this: ANZ isn’t broadly seen as broken—but it’s also not priced as a bargain, especially with execution and regulatory risk still in the foreground.

The 2026 outlook: what could push ANZ stock up—or pull it down

ANZ’s near-term narrative is basically a three‑variable equation:

1) Can cost savings land without customer damage?

ANZ has spoken (via Reuters reporting) about significant cost savings and simplification goals. ^[26]
If those savings land cleanly, they can offset margin pressure and fund technology/risk uplift. If they land messily, they can raise complaints, remediation workload, and churn.

2) Can the bank prove control improvements are real (not just PowerPoint real)?

The penalty package, the second strike, and cultural commentary combine into one big investor demand: show measurable improvement—fewer incidents, faster remediation, stronger governance, and credible accountability. ^[27]

3) Macro: rates, consumer resilience, and credit quality

ANZ’s own consumer confidence reporting highlighted worries around the risk of an interest rate hike next year and a softer labour-market tone as factors weighing on household confidence. ^[28]
If rates rise or unemployment lifts, banks can see slower credit growth and higher arrears. If the economy stays resilient, bad debts can remain contained—supporting dividends and valuations.

Bottom line for investors watching ANZ shares on 26 December 2025

ANZ stock ends 2025 in an unusual place for a major bank: strong price performance and solid dividend optics, paired with unusually intense governance and compliance scrutiny.

The market is essentially asking ANZ to do two hard things simultaneously in 2026:

Run a turnaround (simplify, cut duplication, execute Suncorp integration and tech priorities), and
Re-earn trust (reduce misconduct risk, improve culture, show regulators and shareholders that controls actually work).

That’s doable—big banks have done it before—but it’s rarely smooth. For the share price, the next phase is likely to be less about “what happened in the past scandal cycle” and more about whether upcoming disclosures show credible, repeatable execution against cost, risk, and customer outcomes.