Banks form the backbone of the Indian financial system, channelling savings into productive investment and supporting economic growth. Because banking stocks account for a substantial share of NSE benchmark indices, understanding what drives their share prices is of direct interest to investors, analysts, and regulators. This study examines the influence of eleven financial ratios spanning profitability, liquidity, solvency, asset quality, and efficiency — on the stock price movement of five major NSE-listed banks: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, over the eleven-year period FY2015–16 to FY2024–25. Using a balanced panel of 55 bank-year observations and secondary data drawn from annual reports, RBI publications, and NSE records, the study applies descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple OLS regression, and panel data regression (Fixed Effects and Random Effects, adjudicated by the Hausman test) to isolate the ratios that matter most. The pooled OLS model explains 88.1 percent of the variation in stock price (R² = 0.8806, F = 28.84, p < 0.001), and the Hausman test (χ² = 6685.56, p < 0.001) favours the Fixed Effects specification. Earnings per Share and Net Interest Margin emerge as the strongest, statistically significant positive drivers of stock price, while Gross and Net Non-Performing Asset ratios are strongly and significantly negatively correlated with price, though their independent regression effect is muted once profitability and bank-specific effects are controlled for. Eight of the eleven null hypotheses are rejected. The findings suggest that investors in Indian banking stocks reward earnings strength and margin quality far more consistently than they penalise leverage or reward capital buffers in isolation, and that deteriorating asset quality remains a persistent drag on valuation. The study offers practical guidance for investors, bank management, and policymakers seeking to understand the financial fundamentals that move banking stocks.
Halu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.