Short Interest in HDFC Bank Limited (NYSE:HDB) Expands By 28.1%

HDFC Bank Limited (NYSE:HDB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 19,210,000 shares, an increase of 28.1% from the February 13th total of 15,000,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HDB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Nomura upgraded HDFC Bank from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded HDFC Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Nomura Securities raised HDFC Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in HDFC Bank by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,883,347 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $503,431,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,114 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of HDFC Bank by 2,092.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,418,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $213,851,000 after acquiring an additional 3,262,442 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of HDFC Bank by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,008,828 shares of the bank’s stock worth $447,584,000 after acquiring an additional 3,160,533 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of HDFC Bank by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 17,467,131 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,115,451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,599,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of HDFC Bank by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,307,074 shares of the bank’s stock worth $466,629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,196,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.61% of the company’s stock.

HDFC Bank Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HDB traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $61.69. 1,243,531 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,497,185. HDFC Bank has a 1 year low of $54.07 and a 1 year high of $68.50. The company has a market cap of $156.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.42.

HDFC Bank (NYSE:HDB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.08. HDFC Bank had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities analysts predict that HDFC Bank will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HDFC Bank Company Profile

HDFC Bank Limited provides banking and financial services to individuals and businesses in India, Bahrain, Hong Kong, and Dubai. The company operates in three segments: Wholesale Banking, Retail Banking, and Treasury Services. It accepts savings, salary, current, rural, public provident fund, pension, and demat accounts; fixed and recurring deposits; and safe deposit lockers, as well as offshore accounts and deposits, and overdrafts against fixed deposits.