YES Bank, RBL Bank, Bandhan Bank, IndusInd, Kotak Bank: Private bank shares that FPIs cut stake to in Q4

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were seen trimming stakes in most private lenders in the quarter gone by, data compiled from corporate database AceEquity suggests. Out of seven private lenders, whose shareholding data is out so far, six saw cut in FPI holdings in the March quarter. They included IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank, Bandhan Bank, Axis Bank and YES Bank. FPI holdings in these six private lending stocks stood in 23-49 per cent range for the quarter.

In the case of IndusInd Bank, FPI holding dropped 2.51 percentage points to 42.04 per cent in the March quarter from 44.55 per cent in the December quarter. Kotak Mahindra Bank saw FPIs trimming their stakes by 1.49 percentage points to 37.75 per cent from 39.24 per cent sequentially.

FPIs cut stake in RBL Bank by 67 basis points to 26.53 per cent from 27.20 per cent.

In Bandhan Bank, the institutional category reduced stake by 46 basis points to 31.93 per cent from 32.39 per cent. Axis Bank and YES Bank also saw FPI selling.

In Axis Bank, FPI holding slipped to 49.05 per cent from 49.45 per cent, down 40 basis points sequentially. FPIs reduced their holdings in YES Bank to 23.10 per cent from 23.24 per cent, down 14 basis points.

Meanwhile, HDFC Bank saw FPIs increasing their stake to 32.22 per cent from 32.08 per cent, up 14 basis points.

"We prefer large private banks (order of preference is ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank) and SBI, as balance sheet heft and digital nimbleness give large banks an edge over mid-sized ones. Among midcap ones, we favour Federal Bank and see structural challenges in regional banks," Elara Securities said in a note.

ICICI Bank, The Federal Bank, City Union Bank and IDFC First Bank are among private lenders that are will disclose their shareholding patterns shortly.

Also read: HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank: How to trade banking stocks ahead of Q4 results?

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