ICICI Bank Reclaims ‘Most Preferred Lender’ Tag After Four Years

India’s second-largest private lender by assets reclaimed its most preferred banking stock tag after four years on account of a change in leadership, higher bad loan recoveries and a positive growth outlook.

Forty-nine of the 51 analysts tracking ICICI Bank Ltd. are bullish on the stock this year, according to Bloomberg data. The ‘Buy’ ratings as a percentage of total analyst recommendations is 96 percent—the highest since 2014.

Prior to this, HDFC Bank Ltd. occupied the spot for two years. In 2015 and 2016, Axis Bank Ltd. was tagged the most preferred lender.

Shares of ICICI Bank had gained nearly 16 percent last year.

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