Illustration photo
The stock market on February 2nd (23rd of Lunar December) witnessed volatile trading around the VN-Index reference level, accompanied by moderate liquidity and a sharp decline compared to the previous session. The lack of synchronization in the large-cap stock group and increased selling pressure towards the end of the session caused the VN-Index to close slightly down by 0.47 points at 1,172.55 points for the week.
The banking stock group today had mixed developments, with red dominating and exerting pressure on the overall market. At the close of the session on February 2nd, the entire industry recorded 6 stocks rising, 12 stocks falling, and 9 stocks unchanged at the reference price.
The most impressive performance today was seen in HDB stock of HDBank, as it increased by over 2.5% and officially surpassed the old peak recorded at the end of November 2021. Currently, this stock is trading at its all-time high of 22,350 dong/share (adjusted price). In total, this stock has increased by over 10% since the beginning of the year and nearly 25% in the past 2 months.
HDB stock surpassing all-time high in the February 2nd session. (Source: HSC)
The performance of HDB stock comes in the context of HDBank recently announcing its financial results for 2023, with consolidated pre-tax profit reaching a record 13,017 billion dong, an increase of 26.8% compared to 2022. This result helps HDBank maintain a decade of continuous high growth with an annual compound growth rate of 49.1%.
The session today also saw positive developments in ACB stock (+0.96%), helping this stock maintain its record high price. VCB also increased by 0.56% in the ATC session and is now just over 3% away from the all-time high.
In addition to the above three stocks, the green color also appeared in three other banking stocks: BVB (+0.93%), PGB (+0.37%), and STB (+0.34%).
On the contrary, OCB was the stock that declined the most today, dropping more than 2% to 14,500 dong/share. Along with OCB, many other banking stocks also experienced significant declines, such as TPB (-1.96%), VIB (-1.94%), CPB (-1.83%),…
In terms of liquidity, SHB continued to lead the industry with nearly 38 million shares traded directly on the exchange. Following SHB in terms of trading volume were VPB (16.7 million shares), MBB (15.1 million shares), ACB (14.5 million shares), STB (10.1 million shares),…
SHB has recently been the stock with the highest liquidity on the stock market in general and the VN30 group in particular. For example, in the trading session on January 31, 2024, SHB had a trading session with the highest volume in history with over 127 million shares transferred, equivalent to 11.3% of the total trading volume on HoSE. With this trading volume, SHB shares broke the liquidity record since its listing on the stock exchange.
Prior to that, on January 10th, SHB set a liquidity record by matching orders for 94.3 million shares, equivalent to 1,154 billion dong.
Until now, SHB is one of the few stocks that have recorded trading volume of over 100 million shares in one session. SHB is also a stock that foreign investors are interested in. From mid-January 2024 to now, foreign investors have net bought nearly 6.9 million SHB shares.
In the VN30 group (blue-chip stocks), there are 13 banking stocks, accounting for nearly 49% of the portfolio. Therefore, banking stocks are an indispensable group to create spreading effects in order to contribute to the market’s point increase.
According to analysts, the stock price level of the banking sector represented by the P/B ratio is currently trading at 1.5 times. This shows that the valuation of the banking sector is still attractive and has potential for long-term holding. There are some stocks with relatively low P/B ratios such as: SHB reaching 0.9; TCB reaching 1.0; MBB reaching 1.1; CTG reaching 1.2;
“The valuation of banking stocks is attractive, on par with the historical average, but the ROE and asset quality of this sector are currently much better than in the past,” said ACBS Securities.
In the 2024 industry outlook report, BIDV Securities Company (BSC) also maintained a positive recommendation for the banking sector in 2024 based on the following main points: First, the low interest rate environment and the prospects of economic recovery help improve credit growth and NIM increases due to the restoration of the cost of capital; Second, strengthening bad debt resolution in 2023 creates room to recognize profits from debt recovery in 2024, thereby making the profit growth outlook for 2024 more optimistic, supported by the fact that the valuation level is still in a suitable range for accumulation.
