ICICI Bank gains as BofA ML raises target price

MUMBAI: ICICI Bank was the top gainer in Bank Nifty after Bank of America Merrill Lynch has maintained its ‘buy’ rating on the stock and raised its target price.

The brokerage is expecting re-rating in the stock and is of the view that it can almost double in next 3-4 years period.

ICICI Bank’s RoE is likely to rise from 14 per cent to 18 per cent by FY18, the brokerage says. It sees the bank’s branch network to go up six-fold in seven years.

The bank is trading at 5-year historical average and is cheapest versus peers.

At 01:20 p.m.; the stock was at Rs 1597.70, up 1.61 per cent, on the BSE. It gained 1.94 per cent to touch intraday high of Rs 1602.95.