The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN)

Equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on IBN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded ICICI Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings cut ICICI Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded ICICI Bank from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of ICICI Bank from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ICICI Bank Stock Performance

Shares of IBN stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.89. 167,944 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,829,683. ICICI Bank has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $33.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $107.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.29.

ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) last released its earnings results on Sunday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. ICICI Bank had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ICICI Bank will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ICICI Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC increased its stake in shares of ICICI Bank by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 21,959 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 3,178 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in ICICI Bank by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 46,966 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in ICICI Bank by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 318,884 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,503,000 after buying an additional 79,563 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of ICICI Bank by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,798,548 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,397,000 after purchasing an additional 22,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ICICI Bank by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,716 shares of the bank’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.18% of the company’s stock.

About ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian multinational banking and financial services company that provides a broad range of products and services to retail, corporate and institutional customers. The bank traces its origins to the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, founded in 1955, and was converted into a commercial bank during the 1990s as part of its evolution into a full-service financial institution. It is one of India’s largest private-sector banks and is listed in the United States as an American depositary receipt under the ticker IBN.

The bank’s core activities include retail banking (deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, credit cards and payments), corporate and commercial banking (working capital, term lending, trade finance and cash management), and treasury operations.