Short Interest in HDFC Bank Limited (NYSE:HDB) Rises By 9.2%

HDFC Bank Limited (NYSE:HDB - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,950,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the November 30th total of 17,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of HDFC Bank from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th.

HDFC Bank Stock Performance

Shares of HDB stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,640,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,135,677. HDFC Bank has a one year low of $52.16 and a one year high of $68.50. The firm has a market cap of $161.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $64.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

HDFC Bank (NYSE:HDB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, October 19th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.09. HDFC Bank had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 12.49%. The company had revenue of $9.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.84 billion. On average, analysts forecast that HDFC Bank will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HDFC Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in HDFC Bank by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,143,853 shares of the bank's stock worth $71,559,000 after acquiring an additional 199,582 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of HDFC Bank by 60.1% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 316,974 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,830,000 after purchasing an additional 119,050 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in shares of HDFC Bank by 34.7% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 137,015 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,572,000 after buying an additional 35,291 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of HDFC Bank by 13.4% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 241,600 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,114,000 after buying an additional 28,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of HDFC Bank by 42.2% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 34,100 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,133,000 after buying an additional 10,127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.61% of the company's stock.

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.