Shares of State Bank of India (SBI), on Monday, hit an eight-week high of Rs 377.30 after rising 5 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on the back of heavy volumes. The state-owned lender’s stock was trading at its highest level since March 23, 2021, when it touched 377.7 in intra-day trade. It hit a record high of Rs 426 on February 18, 2021.

SBI was the top gainer among the S&P BSE Sensex stocks. A combined 43.11 million equity shares were changing hands on the NSE and BSE. In comparison, the benchmark index was up 1.1 per cent at 49,225 points.

On May 14, 2021, aftermarket hours, SBI informed BSE that the meeting of the board of directors of the Company is scheduled on Friday, May 21, 2021, inter alia, to consider and approve approval of audited financial results for year ended March 31, 2021, and dividend, if any.

If SBI board declared any dividend for the financial year 2020-21 (FY21), it should be after a gap of three years the bank’s shareholders get the dividend. Last, in May 2017, SBI had declared a dividend of Rs 2.60 per share, the BSE data shows.

Analysts expect frontline private banks/SBI to be comfortably placed in terms of existing Covid provisions, portfolio mix and capital buffers to absorb the potential rise in slippages. The brokerage estimate operating metric for public sector banks (PSBs) is to improve led by an improving overall environment. Within PSBs, we expect SBI to report healthy performance supported by the resolution of Bhushan Power & Steel, which would result in healthy recoveries and a seasonally strong quarter on fee income, Motilal Oswal Securities said.

“We expect a healthy operating profit growth of 15 per cent year on year (YoY) led by 11 per cent YoY revenue growth. Solid net interest income (NII) growth partly aided by a lower base. Loan growth to be subdued at around 5 per cent YoY and NIM (core) unchanged quarter on quarter (QoQ) at around 3.1 per cent,” Kotak Securities said in banks’ Q4FY21 preview.