Following Canara Bank Ltd fourth-quarter earnings for FY26, brokerages have recalibrated their expectations. The company shares were trading 1.04% lower at Rs 128.70 per share in Wednesday’s trade on the BSE.

PL Capital

Brokerage firm PL Capital upgraded Canara Bank stock to ‘Accumulate’ from ‘Hold’ rating, though it slightly reduced the target price to Rs 150 from Rs 160 earlier. The firm noted a "Good quarter due to superior NII/NIM and lower opex".  

According to PL Capital, the core pre-provision operating profit (PPoP) beat estimates by nearly 13%. The brokerage observed that Canara Bank's loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) sits at a comfortable 77.8% , leaving the bank better placed than its peers to support future credit growth. Furthermore, the sequential margin improvement was supported by a fall in deposit costs and a 8.6% sequential growth in retail advances.  

Equirus Securities

While Equirus Securities upgraded the stock's rating to ‘Long’ from ‘Add’, setting a March 2027 target price of Rs 155. The broking summarised the quarter as a scenario of "Soft growth, stable margins", ultimately cutting its FY27 earnings estimates by 2%.  

Equirus highlighted that while Canara Bank trades at a supportive 0.9x FY28 adjusted book value, a weak CASA profile remains a drag on margins. "Management guided for conservative FY27 growth, with advances/deposits expected at 11-12%/9-10%," the brokerage said.

Meanwhile, as per March quarter shareholding pattern, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, wife of the late ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, currently holds a 1.54% stake, translating to 13.99 crore shares in the state-owned lender.