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Leading brokerage firm Investec has maintained a 'Buy' rating on Medplus Health Services, highlighting its robust expansion plans and promising growth in the generics segment.Mirae Asset Sharekhan has issued a 'Buy' rating on Bajaj Finserv, citing its ambitious long-term strategy and focus on leveraging AI for profitable growth.Meanwhile, Hem Securities has recommended a 'Buy' on Parag Milk, driven by its strong earnings growth, robust distribution network, and focus on value-added products.We have collated a list of recommendations from top brokerage firms, sourced from ETNow and other platforms:Investec on Medplus Health Services: Buy | Target: Rs 940 | LTP: Rs 844 | Upside: 11%Investec has maintained a "Buy" rating on Medplus Health Services with a target price of Rs 940, indicating an upside potential of 11% from the current market price of Rs 844.The company has outlined an ambitious growth plan to add 600 new stores by FY26, reflecting its commitment to expanding its retail footprint.Medplus is also seeing strong adoption of generic medicines, particularly among customers with chronic conditions, which is driving its generics business.Additionally, the company is bringing back its store franchise business model as part of its growth strategy.On the diagnostic front, the company’s pilot project in Hyderabad has turned profitable, showcasing its potential in this space. However, it currently has no plans to expand its diagnostic business further.Mirae Asset Sharekhan on Bajaj Finserv: Buy | Target: Rs 2,350 | LTP: Rs 1,679 | Upside: 39%Mirae Asset Sharekhan has issued a "Buy" rating on Bajaj Finserv, setting a target price of Rs 2,350, which implies a significant upside potential of 39% from the current market price of Rs 1,679.Bajaj Finserv unveiled its new long-term strategy for FY25-29, identifying new megatrends across business lines and planning to leverage AI capabilities to improve processes, predict customer needs, and expand faster.At the same time, the focus remains on capital efficiency, profitable growth, and healthy RoEs. The healthcare and AMC businesses are expected to break even in the next 3-5 years.The company has guided for a 20-22% CAGR in total income to Rs 3 lakh crore, 18-22% growth in PAT to Rs 20,000 crore, and 17-18% growth in its customer franchise to 20 crore by FY 2029E.The brokerage firm has maintained a "Buy" rating with an unchanged SOTP-based PT of Rs 2,350. The group is well-positioned to capture the structural growth story across the financial landscape (lending, investing, and protecting) in India over the medium to long term.Hem Securities on Parag Milk: Buy | Target: Rs 255 | LTP: Rs 207 | Upside: 23%Hem Securities has given a "Buy" recommendation on Parag Milk with a target price of Rs 255, suggesting an upside potential of 23% from the current market price of Rs 207.Parag Foods’ earnings grew at a CAGR of ~16% over FY19-23. Going forward, we are positive on the company’s future growth prospects, primarily driven by its robust distribution network, strong brand equity, and continuous efforts to expand into newer categories.The company aims to further enhance its product mix by focusing on margin-accretive, value-added products and new-age businesses, along with the constant scaling-up of new launches.With a strong growth outlook, Hem Securities has initiated a “Buy” rating on the stock and values it at 19.2x FY26 EPS to arrive at the target of Rs 255.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

Fund houses used the weakness in the mid- and small-cap space to accumulate select pharma and capital goods stocks where valuations are reasonable and companies have potential for growth. India pharma companies’ progress in complex generics, stable US pricing and steady sales growth in India led to fund houses buying into stocks like Alembic Pharma, Divis Labs, Glenmark, Medplus, Orchid and Sanofi Consumer. Some fund managers bought into capital goods companies as they believe we are at the beginning of the capex cycle and it is likely to continue for the next 5-7 years as they focus on PLI, renewables, and energy transition. This has led to funds managers buying into stocks like GE Vernova T&D, and KEI Industries. 116269758

Kolkata: Banks' deposit mobilisation from the public increased 10.6% between November 2023 and November 2024, in tandem with credit growth, latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed. Term deposits and demand deposits also clocked double-digit growth in the same period.This is a result of banks' relentless effort to mobilise deposits and a fall in credit expansion, especially in the retail side, following the concerns raised by the regulator on the possible overheating"Overall, a better balance is emerging between deposit and credit growth, with the incremental credit-deposit ratio falling to more normal levels from stratospheric heights earlier," RBI said in its state of economy report last month. 116265281In fact, incremental deposit collection outpaced incremental credit growth, the report suggested.Scheduled commercial banks' incremental credit-deposit ratio was as high as 95.8% at end-March 2024. It came down to 82.7% as on November 1 with incremental deposit outpacing incremental credit during August-October, the RBI report said.As per the latest set of data released by RBI Thursday, public deposits with scheduled commercial banks in the country stood at '224.7 lakh crore at the end of November 29, against '203.2 lakh crore a year ago. Of this, demand deposits stood at '26.3 lakh crore, increasing 10.3% year-on-year while term deposits went up 10.6% to '198.4 lakh crore, RBI data showed.Banks' credit also increased 10.6%, to '179.6 lakh crore, up from '162.4 lakh crore a year ago.The figures are based on provisional data, the central bank said.For the past two financial years, credit expanded faster than deposit, which made the RBI worried about a possibility of liquidity mismatch at the structural level. The credit-deposit growth gap was 220 basis points in early September. The gap has now been wiped out, on constant regulatory nudge over the past few months.