HDFC Bank Limited (NYSE:HDB) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

HDFC Bank Limited (NYSE:HDB) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,500,000 shares, a growth of 7.9% from the August 31st total of 16,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.2 days.

HDFC Bank Price Performance

NYSE HDB opened at $62.40 on Wednesday. HDFC Bank has a 12 month low of $52.16 and a 12 month high of $67.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

HDFC Bank (NYSE:HDB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $14.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.81 billion. HDFC Bank had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.69%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that HDFC Bank will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HDFC Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HDB. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HDFC Bank during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HDFC Bank during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of HDFC Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in HDFC Bank in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in HDFC Bank by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. 17.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HDB. StockNews.com cut HDFC Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of HDFC Bank from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd.

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.