Stock Recommendations Today: Banks, NBFCs, Emerging Markets On Brokerages’ Radar Divya Prata NDTV Profit

Jefferies expects growth to stabilise and stress to ease in the non-banking financial sector, and shares its top picks in the space. JPMorgan remains positive on public sector undertaking banks over mid-sized banks and non-banking financial companies.

Nomura sees sustained improvement in Fortis Healthcare’s financial performance and sanguine guidance for the financial year 2026.

NDTV Profit tracks what analysts are saying about various stocks and sectors. Here are the analyst calls to keep an eye out for on Wednesday.

Jefferies On Afcons Infrastructure

• Maintain ‘buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 580.

• The financial year 2025 order flow miss is more a timing aspect.

• Management commentary reflects confidence in capital expenditure prospects in a challenging environment.

• The company is the lowest bidder on orders of Rs 10,700 crore, which should convert in the first half of fiscal 2026.

Citi On Info Edge

• Maintain ‘buy’ rating, and cut target price to Rs 1,685 from Rs 1,820.

• Ebitda missed estimates in the quarter ended March as company increased advertising and promotion spending across recruitment and property segments.

• Attrition rates in IT Services may not rise further, while other growth drivers may persist.

• The brokerage lowered estimates and now expects 13% – 16% billings growth and 15% – 14% revenue growth in the financial years 2026 and 2027.

• Ebitda estimates are cut by 1% to 3%.

JPMorgan On Banks

• Federal Bank – Downgrade rating to neutral from overweight; cut target price to Rs 210 from Rs 215.

• IDFC First Bank – Upgrade rating to neutral from underweight; hike target price to Rs 63 from Rs 50.

• IndusInd Bank – Downgrade rating to underweight from neutral; cut target price to Rs 550 from Rs 1,100.

• Bank of Baroda – Maintain overweight rating; cut target price to Rs 305 from Rs 320.

• Punjab National Bank – Maintain overweight rating; cut target price to Rs 120 from Rs 140.

• RBL Bank – Maintain underweight rating; hike target price to Rs 190 from Rs 140.

• YES Bank – Maintain overweight rating; hike target price to Rs 18 from Rs 17.

• LIC Housing Finance – Maintain overweight rating; cut target price to Rs 690 from Rs 735.

• JPMorgan prefers public sector undertaking banks over mid-sized banks and non-banking financial companies.

• Key drivers are lower net interest margins on policy easing and slower growth at NBFCs.

• Federal Bank downgrade is based on the view that the bank will take a while to deliver return on asset expansion.

• For IndusInd Bank, JPMorgan believes the book value is secure, but pre-provision operating profit return on assets will take a significant period to rebound.

• IDFC First Bank is seen as fairly valued at premium valuations.

Morgan Stanley On Zinka Logistics Solutions

• Maintain ‘equal-weight’ rating with a target price of Rs 490.

• The quarter ended March 2025 showed a revenue miss led by the core business.

• Average monthly transacting truck operators increased to over 765,000, which is viewed positively.

• Gross transaction value of payments rose 8.7% quarter-on-quarter but was 3.5% below estimate; the main drag was a 2% miss in payment volume.

Jefferies On NBFCs

• PAT growth eased for NBFCs, with assets under management growth moderating in most segments in the quarter ended March.

• Net Interest Margin trends were mixed.

• Despite rate cuts, most guided for steady to slightly better NIMs in the financial year 2026.

• Gross non-performing assets fell quarter-on-quarter excluding MFI, but lower-than-usual rollbacks reflect some strain persisting in borrower balance sheets.

• Growth is expected to stabilise and stress to ease in the financial year 2026, with potential positive NIM surprises at select NBFCs due to more rate cuts.

• Bajaj Finance, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, and Shriram Finance remain top picks.

JPMorgan On NMDC

• Maintain ‘underweight’ rating with a target price of Rs 56.

• The company showed a sharp earnings miss on elevated costs in the quarter ended March.

• Revenue came in 2% higher on better sales in pellets and other minerals.

• Overall costs were up 12% year-on-year on a per-ton basis and came in 19% higher versus estimates.

• Capital expenditure for the financial year ended March 2025 came in lower than management guidance.

• Clarity on the progress of capacity expansion projects will be a key monitorable.

Nomura On Fortis Healthcare

• Maintain ‘buy’ rating and hike target price to Rs 820 from Rs 700.

• The company can trade in line with or ahead of peers, driven by improved financial performance.

• Sustained improvement in financial performance and sanguine guidance for the financial year 2026.

• Nomura likes Fortis’ measured aggression in selectively adding to the network through acquisitions within its existing cluster.

• Expect a gradual improvement in growth and Ebitda margin in the medium term.

Nomura On Emerging Market Strategy

• Stay overweight on India and tactically overweight on China equities.

• Cut back exposure to traditional tech-hardware names in India IT software and services.

• For domestic exposure, select banks and financial names in India are still favored.

• Also, select names leveraged to certain idiosyncratic themes such as defense and rising electric vehicle adoption in India are favored.

• Added stocks include Uno Minda, Godrej Consumer Products, and Bajaj Finance.

• Removed stocks include Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, and Shriram Finance.

Macquarie On Life Insurance Corporation of India

• Maintain ‘outperform’ rating with a target price of Rs 1,215.

• Caution advised on value of new business growth, but valuation provides a safety net.

• The quarter ended March showed a VNB miss driven by a decline in annualised premium equivalent growth.

• Increasing non-participating mix and decline in cost ratios provide margin support.

• Valuation support despite downside risk to VNB estimates.

UBS On Aarti Industries

• Upgrade rating to ‘buy’ from ‘sell’ and hike target price to Rs 625 from Rs 615.

• Strategic growth initiatives are underway, with a cycle recovery likely.

• The company is focusing on market development and long-term client relationships.

• Achievable Ebitda guidance supports a forecasted compound annual growth rate of 25% for the financial years 2025-28.

• The energy business MMA segment is expected to ramp up gradually.

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