Shares of Axis Bank hit an all-time high of Rs 923.70 in intraday trade on Thursday, up 1% on the BSE and 3% over the past three days on a stable outlook. Shares of the private sector bank have surpassed the previous high of Rs 919.95 touched on October 27, 2022.

Axis Bank is India’s third largest private sector bank, with a balance sheet of Rs 11.8 trillion crores as of September 2022. The bank has a massive footprint across India, with 4,760 branches. Retail and SMEs accounted for approximately 69% of total loans.

Analysts at ICICI Securities have a ‘buy’ call on Axis Bank with a target price of Rs 1,000 per share, equivalent to 2.3 times FY24 adjusted book value (ABV). The brokerage said that focusing on risk-adjusted business growth and improving margin trajectory can help enhance returns and performance sustainability, driving valuations forward.

Meanwhile, rating agencies CRISIL Ratings and India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) assigned AAA ratings and stable outlooks to Axis Bank’s infrastructure bonds and reaffirmed their other ratings.

“The overall rating reflects the bank’s strong capital position, market position and good resource profile. These strengths are somewhat undercut by average asset quality,” CRISIL Ratings said.

Axis Bank’s capital ratios remain healthy, as reflected in Tier 1 capital and risk-weighted adequacy ratio (CRAR) of 15.75% and 17.72 respectively, supported by higher-maturity equity capital and accrued profits of 17.54 raised through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) % and 20.04 as of September 30, 2022 (16.34% and 18.54% as of March 31, 2022, respectively).

The stable outlook reflects Ind-Ra’s expectation that Axis’ reasonable capital buffer, strong reserve coverage ratio (PCR) and additional reserves (excluding PCR) will provide a buffer against any near-term shocks. While Axis reported its highest profitability in a decade in FY2022, based on management targets and the successful integration of Citibank’s (Citibank; ‘IND A1+’) retail franchise while maintaining client and staff turnover, the Further improvements have been made Ind-Ra said in its rationale for the rating that minimising emissions will be essential for short-term monitoring.

According to S&P Global Ratings, Axis Bank should be able to maintain its sound asset quality, backed by India’s stable macroeconomic conditions and the bank’s proper risk management. The rating agency said the stable outlook reflects the bank’s strong market position, ample capital buffer and stable deposit base.