Indian markets have been under pressure in recent weeks, but strategist Matt Orton remains bullish on the country and has now revealed “one of his favorite stocks.” “India has always been my most overweight country, and it still is outside of the U.S.,” chief market strategist at asset management firm Raymond James Investment Management told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on November 18. The time has come for Indian stocks. , the benchmark Nifty 50 index and the BSE Sensex index, which represents India’s 30 largest and most traded companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange, both fell about 5% last month. However, despite these declines, Orton said he “remains optimistic about India’s future growth prospects”. ICIC Bank One stock that Orton is watching is private banking and financial services company ICICI Bank. “ICICI Bank is one of my favorite options because it is a quality asset. I call it a quality asset in the market,” he said. The bank’s shares trade on the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange and in the United States under American Depositary Receipts under the symbol IBN. Its shares have been falling since late last month, but are still up more than 25% year to date and currently trade at about 19 times forward earnings. ICICIBANK-IN YTD mountain ICICI Bank shares so far this year Otten said ICICI is one of three “domestic systemically important banks”, or banks deemed “too big to fail” by the Reserve Bank of India. He also likes that his Private Wealth unit “benefits from the overall stock market.” “To me, (it) is just a prime investment candidate, and I think it makes sense to continue to accumulate through weakness because I think it’s the most “Good choice” – among the best among all private and financial banks in India,” he added. The Mumbai-based lending giant reported a 14.5% rise in net profit for the September quarter on higher net interest income and loan growth. Analysts at Jefferies said in an October 27 note that Orton is not the only bank that is bullish on ICICI Bank, which is “in a league of its own” and has named it as one of its top picks. Of the 44 analysts covering the stock, 41 have buy or overweight ratings, while the remaining three have hold ratings, according to FactSet data. Their average price target is INR 1,479 ($14.87), with potential upside of approximately 18%.
Strategists pick the best stocks to buy in India right now | Real Time Headlines
RELATED ARTICLES