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In the March 2025 quarter, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, a Marquee Dalal Street investor and the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s wife, boosted her stake in Canara Bank, a state-run lender.
As of March 31, Rekha Jhunjhunwala had 1.46 per cent of Canara Bank. (File Photo)
The late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s (Indian investor and stock trader) wife, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, a Marquee Dalal Street investor, boosted her stake in Canara Bank, a state-run lender, during the March 2025 quarter. According to the most recent shareholding pattern provided by the lender, Jhunjhunwala purchased up to 37.5 lakh equity shares of the PSU bank between January and March of 2024.
Rekha Jhunjhunwala had 13,24,43,000 equity shares, or 1.46 per cent of Canara Bank, as of March 31, 2025, according to the lender’s exchange filing. On the other hand, as of December 31, 2024, she owned 12,86,93,000 equity shares in the company (in the name of the Estate of the Late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala).
As of April 8, Jhunjhunwala’s ownership interest in Canara Bank is worth Rs 1,190 crore. With a market valuation of about 81,000 crores, the Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) lender increased 2.95 per cent on Tuesday to Rs 89.67. The stock was down around 13 per cent year-to-date (YTD) as it closed Monday at Rs 87.10.
The stock plummeted by roughly 33 per cent after reaching its 52-week peak of Rs 129.35 one year ago. The stock, last month, touched its 52-week high and low at Rs 78.58. About five years ago, Canara Bank shares were trading below the Rs 16 mark; since then, the stock has soared by roughly 450 per cent.
The bank is anticipated by Kotak Institutional Equities to report a moderate 2 per cent YoY gain in earnings, driven by a modest 4 per cent YoY growth in operating profit. A slight sequential reduction in Net interest margin (NIM) is anticipated, mostly due to a slight rise in the cost of deposits.
“We do not expect any major surprises related to asset quality in this quarter. As the net NPL ratio is still higher than other PSU banks under our coverage, credit cost is likely to be higher than most peers,” Kotak Institutional Equities noted that the company has an ‘add’ rating and a target price of Rs 105 as per Business Today.
Businessman, Motilal Oswal expects PSU banks to report modest earnings growth of 4.5 per cent YoY (up 4.8 per cent QoQ) despite a minor decrease in NIMs, offset by limited opex and an increase in other income. As the NIM bias remains negative, NII is expected to expand modestly by 2.8 per cent year on year. Meanwhile, Kotak Institutional Equities expects PSU banks to report a 9 per cent CAGR in aggregate earnings over FY25- 27.
Canara Bank is rated as a “buy” by Antique Stock Broking and Ventura Securities, with target prices of Rs 120 and Rs 143, respectively, while JM Financial has a “hold” rating with a target price of Rs 110.
