ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank are among most popular stocks with up to 51 ‘Buy’ calls

Leading private sector lender ICICI Bank Ltd, the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto and other banking majors including Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank are the most widely covered stocks on Dalal Street.

As many as 53 analysts covered ICICI Bank, and 51 have a ‘Buy’ rating on the lender. On the other hand, 52 experts tracked Maruti Suzui and 39 has ‘Buy’ ratings on the stock, while six analysts have ‘Hold’ call on the stock, according to a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Data further highlighted that IndusInd Bank Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd are tracked by 51 analysts each. Where Axis Bank has 49 ‘Buy’ calls, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Auto have 44 and 34 ‘Buy’ calls from analysts.

With 49 ‘Buy’ calls, the country’s biggest lender by assets State Bank of India Ltd (SBI) is tracked by 50 analysts in the domestic equity market. On the other hand, index heavyweight Reliance Industries is tracked by 37 analysts and it has 32 ‘Buy’, 3 ‘Sell’ and 2 ‘Hold’ calls. IT major Tata Consultancy Services is covered by 48 experts and has 22 ‘Buy’, 11 ‘Sell’ and 15 ‘Hold’ ratings.

Hindalco, which is covered by 24 analysts, enjoys a 100 per cent ‘Buy’ rating along with Adani Ports and Max Healthcare (100 per cent each)

On the other hand, Hindustan Aeronautics (10 analysts), Abbott India (10), Max Healthcare (10), JSW Energy (11), and YES Bank (14) are the least covered stocks, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a report. It was followed by LIC (15), Hindustan Zinc (15), Canara Bank (15), Vedanta (15) and Indian Hotels (17).

While sharing its view on the domestic equity market, the brokerage said, “Analyst sentiment, which is measured by the proportion of Buy/Hold/Sell ratings, has not changed much over the past year with the percentage of Buy ratings moderating to 71 per cent from 73 per cent a year ago. Further, the percentage of Hold and Sell ratings stood at 17 per cent and 12 per cent compared with 16 per cent and 11 per cent, a year ago.”

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