Stock market analyst Ashwani Gujral has maintained ‘Buy’ rating on Canara Bank to achieve a short term target that lies between Rs 257- Rs 265.

According to Mr. Gujral, interested traders can buy the stock with a strict stop loss of Rs 225.

Shares of the company, on Monday (June 15), closed at Rs 236.25 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 50.55 and 4.75 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 297.20 and a low of Rs 135 on BSE.

Canara Bank, in May 2009, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fitch Ratings India for bank loan ratings.

Under the MoU, Fitch will provide ratings to the loans of the banking institution in addition to other exposures extended to both its subsisting plus prospective borrowers.

Under the standardized approach of RBI new capital adequacy framework for Basel II, the ratings of bank loan from Fitch would facilitate Canara Bank to allocate the apt risk weights valid to its borrowers.

For the three month period ended March 31, 2009, the bank registered a phenomenal increase of 54.90% in its standalone net profit.

During the three month period, Canara Bank recorded net profit of Rs 7,188.10 million as compared to Rs 4,640.60 million in the same quarter previous year.

The bank earned an interest income of Rs 46,538.80 million, whilst its total income increased 22.17% to Rs 55,003.50 million.

The bank reported earnings of Rs 17.53 per share, an increase of 54.86% over the previous year period.

For the year ended March 31, 2009, the directors announced a dividend of 80% that is Rs 8 per share of the face value of Rs 10.