Home run

The rally on Dalal Street has also seen the stock of home loan major HDFC gaining ground from ₹796 to ₹966 since the year began, an increase of 21%. Riding the momentum, Keki Mistry, vice-chairman and CEO, sold 84,200 shares in three tranches in the open market at an average price of ₹928.25 on June 9. Post the sale, Mistry held around 484,000 shares (0.03%). Interestingly, the share sale was followed by an Esop allotment that saw an additional 197,000 shares being issued to Mistry. As a result, his holding increased to 681,000 shares (0.04%). Analysts continue to be bullish on the premier mortgage finance major given its robust loan book growth of over 16% in FY14 to ₹1.97 lakh crore and strong net interest margin of over 4%. For the recent fiscal, net profit increased 12% to ₹5,440 crore, while total income, including interest income, grew 14% to ₹24,143 crore. Given that there is enough room for foreign institutional investors to increase their holding from the current 75% to 100%, the outlook for the stock continues to be buoyant.