Zenith Bank Plc’s upside potential has widened as its share price trades at a discount, creating opportunities for value-seeking investors ahead of its half-year 2025 earnings release. At a reference price of N70 last week, the lender—headquartered at Ajose Adeogun, Lagos, with 35 years of operations—has already delivered a 53% year-to-date return to shareholders.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed the stock closed at N66, about 16% below its 52-week high of N78.50. Market activity slowed last week as bargain hunting faded in the absence of fresh catalysts to sustain rallies across sectoral indices.
At the close of trading, Zenith Bank’s market capitalization stood at N2.71 trillion on 41.069 billion outstanding shares, down by more than N164 billion from its opening value as investors adopted cautious trading strategies. The stock’s contribution to the overall banking index loss was significant compared to smaller lenders, even though its price movement was less volatile than the broader NGX decline.
On Friday, the share price settled at N66 as 17.349 million units worth N1.174 billion were traded. Analysts noted that sell-side activity dominated, with traders taking profit ahead of the bank’s earnings release. Despite the decline, the lender has indicated plans to pay an interim dividend, signalling a likely healthy performance for the first half of 2025.
Analysts’ Targets and Outlook
Equity analysts remain broadly optimistic about Zenith Bank’s prospects, with varying degrees of upside potential:
- Alpha Morgan Limited set the most bullish target at N102 per share, implying a potential upside of 55%.
- Afrinvest Securities Limited projected a N96.38 target price, with an upside potential of 37.7% from last week’s reference price of N70.
- Apel Asset Limited estimated a N78.81 target, noting that Zenith has already returned 53.85% YTD.
- Cowry Asset Limited revised its outlook to a N95 target, reflecting a potential upside of 44%.
- Atlass Portfolio Limited provided the most conservative forecast at N80, with a hold/neutral recommendation given the limited upside of 14.3% at the N70 reference price.
With interim dividends on the horizon and analysts largely bullish, Zenith Bank remains one of the standout performers among Tier-1 banks in 2025. However, near-term sentiment will hinge on the strength of its upcoming earnings report.
