Amid the ongoing earnings season, India’s largest PSU bank stock, and three of the largest private bank stocks have found a place in IIFL Securities’ ‘strong buy’ list. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI are among the banking stocks that IIFL Securities rated ‘strong buy’ earlier this week with as much as about 25% upside from current market prices, accompanied by Refinitiv research reports. The Bank Nifty index extended gains today and surpassed the 42850 mark. All the banking indices, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Private Banks and Nifty PSU Bank, ended in green today. In comparison, the NSE Nifty 50 settled above 17760 and BSE Sensex above 60100.
Stock Call: IIFL Securities’ ‘strong buy’ recommendation on top banking stocks
ICICI Bank – CMP: Rs 913.2 – Target Price: Rs 1116 (22.2% upside)
ICICI Bank shares closed 0.93% higher at Rs 913.2 today. The stock has risen 7% in the last one month while it has jumped over 21% in the past one year. In Q4FY23, the bank’s net profit surged 30% on-year to Rs 9,122 crore led by growth in net interest income, which rose 40.2% on-year to Rs 17,667 crore.
HDFC Bank – CMP: Rs 1663.6 – Target Price: Rs 1963 (18% upside)
HDFC Bank shares tanked 1.45% to Rs 1,663.6 today. The stock has risen 6.6% in the last one month and surged nearly 22% in the last one year. Earlier this month, the lender reported a 20.6% growth in its consolidated net profit to Rs 12,594.47 crore for the March 2023 quarter. This was primarily on the back of healthy growth in net interest income (NII) and lower provisions.
Axis Bank – CMP: Rs 876.8 – Target Price: Rs 1094 (24.77% upside)
Axis Bank shares fell 0.62% to Rs 876.8 today. The stock has risen 4.6% in the last one month and climbed 12.5% in the last one year. The bank is expected to report its Q4 results on Thursday, April 27.
State Bank of India – CMP: Rs 561.35 – Target Price: Rs 711 (26.65% upside)
State Bank of India shares rose 1.22% to Rs 561.35 today. The stock has risen over 11% in the past one month and has jumped over 13.5% in the last one year. The stock touched a 52-week high of Rs 629.55 on 15 December 2022 and a 52-week low of Rs 430.7 on 20 June 2022.