Stock market analyst Kiran Jadhav is of the view that investors can hold Karnataka Bank Ltd stock.

According to analyst, the investors can hold the stock with stop loss of Rs 148, which on crossing resistance of Rs 179 will show good upside in the medium to long term.

Today, the shares of the bank opened at Rs 162.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 175.80 and a low of Rs 111 on BSE.

Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 12.54 and 13.03 respectively.

There is news that Axis Bank is getting hold of Karnataka Bank

Karnataka Bank Managing Director Jayarama Bhat said, "There are no talks at all. These are all false rumours."

Karnataka Bank has recorded a growth of 18.74% to Rs 38,166 crore in its business in the last financial year (2009-10).

The bank's deposits, on a year-on-year basis, increase to Rs 23,731 crore from Rs 20,333 crore and advances surged from Rs 11,810 crore to Rs 14,436 crore.

The growth in CASA deposit during the last fiscal stood at 36%.

The bank's CAR was 12.37% under Basel II as at the end of March 2010.

The bank's board recommended a dividend of Rs 4 per share.

The bank presently has 464 divisions. It is planning to increase the number to 480 and also its own ATMs from 217 to 300 by the end of March 2011.