Karvy Stock Broking Limited has maintained ‘Buy’ rating on Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) stock with an intraday target of Rs 1,950.

According to Karvy, day traders can purchase the stock above Rs 1,905 with a strict stop loss of Rs 1,890. If the stock market remains on positive track, the next target for the day will be above Rs 1,955.

Shares of the company, on Thursday (July 17), closed at Rs 1,888.70 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The total volume of shares traded at the BSE was 338849. Current EPS and PE Ratio stood at 85.73 and 24.05 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 3,257 and a low of Rs 1,690 on BSE.

The outlook for the stock is really very strong, and it is expected to rise on the back of huge volumes.

The company is also making robust efforts in order to swell its market share, strengthen its business, regulates its asset quality and put more stress on customer service, which in turn, energize its profile and combat rising competition.

HDFC on Wednesday (July 16), declared a 0.5% hike in interest rates on fixed deposits for its shareholders. Under the special offer, the interest payable on the deposits will carry an extra rate of 0.5% per annum over the existing interest rates. The offer is valid till July 31.

Moreover, lots of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are showing interest in acquiring Citi`s 11.74% stake in Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), which is valued at around Rs 60 billion.

HDFC on Jun. 19, 2008, allotted 25,304 equity shares of Rs 10 each pursuant to exercise of stock options by employees.

Consequently, the paid-up equity share capital of the corporation will stand at Rs 2,842,101,700 consisting of 2,84,210,170 equity shares of Rs 10 each.

For the quarter ended March 2008, HDFC had reported a substantial increase in stand alone net profit. During the three months period, the profit of the company climbed 39.65% to Rs 7,681.20 million from Rs 5,500.50 million in the same quarter last year.

Net sales for the quarter rose 33.77% to Rs 23,122.10 million, when compared with the prior period a year ago.

Other stocks from the same sector that looks good for short-term as well as long-term trading includes Dewan Housing, Shristi Infra, and LIC Housing Fin.