Why you should bet on Axis Bank when Markets wake up on Friday

Tradings in benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty 50 were shut on Thursday on account of Holi. On Wednesday, Sensex finished on positive note at 38,386.75, slightly up by 23.28 points or 0.06%. On the other hand, NIfty 50 ended in red note at 11,521.05 below 11.35 points or 0.10%. After a 1 day gap many investors will be placing their bets for tomorrow’s trading session. Interestingly, one private bank has already been seen as a stellar performer on exchanges, and hence buying in this stock would be among best bets. Axis Bank share price which completed at Rs 755.55 per piece down by 0.72% on Sensex in previous trading session, is seen to rise by over 18% or Rs 138 in near term. 

After carrying out an interaction with top management of Axis Bank, analysts at HDFC Securities stated that, the bank bolsters our belief of meaningful change led by an astute top management revamp.

Darpin Shah and Aakash Dattani analysts at HDFC Securities said, “ This is evidenced by the following changes/ data points (anecdotal): 

(1) Material change in corporate credit/ risk practices with credit/risk heads reporting to the MD instead of business heads. 

(2) These heads are no longer bound by NII/ Fee targets, reducing the chances of 'trigger-happy lending' 

(3) A sustained decline in the share of the BB and below rated corporate book 

(4) Clear focus on profitable growth, driven by a well-articulated strategy. 

(5) Conscious efforts to trim costs evidenced by declining branch size (down ~60% in the last 5 years) and superior efficiency metrics (AXSB has the lowest avg employees/branch). 

(6) The entire PL book consists of salaried customers.”

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Other excerpts for Axis Bank from the interaction was, potential fund raise after 12 months, focus on ramping up subsidiaries' operations and uncertainty on the acquisition of an insurance business (MD's home turf), as per HDFC Securities. 

Thus, the duo added, “ We remain constructive on the stock despite its recent outperformance (+30% in the past 4 months) on a/c of the aforementioned factors amongst others. Maintain BUY with a revised SOTP TP of Rs 894 (2.8x FY21E ABV of Rs 308 + Rs 32 for subs). We remain constructive on the stock despite its recent outperformance (+30% in the past 4 months) on a/c of the aforementioned factors amongst others. Maintain BUY with a revised SOTP TP of Rs 894 (2.8x FY21E ABV of Rs 308 + Rs 32 for subs).”

From current market price level, Axis Bank is seen to rise by over 18% or Rs 138 ahead if we take into consideration the target price.