This Housing Finance Stock Can Give 16% Returns

Broking firm Geojit has placed a "buy" call on the stock of LIC Housing Finance with a price target of Rs 353 on the stock.

"LIC Housing Finance (LICHF) is one of the largest housing finance companies in India. It provides long-term finance to individuals, professionals and builders of residential flats and houses.

The company has a wide distribution network of 282 marketing offices. For Q1FY21, loans portfolio increased 6.1% YoY driven by Individual loan portfolio (+6.0% YoY) and Project loan (+7.5% YoY). Total disbursements stood at Rs. 3,561cr (-65.3% YoY). Net Interest Margin (NIM) for the quarter contracted 10bps to 2.32%. Net Profit rose 33.9% YoY to Rs. 817cr, owing to decline in provisions.

The expectation of economy to improve post lockdown, strong fundamentals, and new products will boost performance in near future. Hence, we reiterate our BUY rating on the stock with a revised target price of Rs.353 based on 0.8x FY22E BVPS," the brokerage firm has stated.