YES Bank shares slide to 52-week lows four times: Time to buy?

Shares of YES Bank Ltd have hit 52-week lows for four times in seven sessions. The stock had traded mostly above the Rs 20 mark in the last one year before October 15. However, YES Bank came under intense selling pressure on October 15 after the Supreme Court dismissed appeals by the private lender, the central government and the RBI upholding the Bombay High Court's ruling that quashed the March 2020 write-down of the bank's Rs 8,415-crore Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds.

A day ago, YES Bank shares closed at Rs 21.21. However, the stock hit a 52 week low of Rs 16.98 on October 15 post SC verdict.

It slipped to fresh lows of Rs 16.80 on October 19, Rs 16.03 on October 21, Rs 15.65 on October 23 and Rs 15.53 on October 26 this year.

In the current session, YES Bank stock attempted a recovery from Monday's low to reclaim the Rs 16 mark. It hit a high of Rs 16.08 today. Market cap of the bank stood at Rs 49,940 crore.

Despite today's recovery, YES Bank shares are still deeply oversold on charts, with the RSI slipping to 183. This signals the stock is under huge selling pressure. An RSI below 30 indicates a stock is oversold on charts.

In terms of technicals, YES Bank shares are trading lower than the 5 day, 10 day, 20 day, 30 day, 50 day, 100 day, 150 day and 200 day moving averages.

YES Bank share price targets 

Shitij Gandhi, AVP - Equity Technical Research, SMC Global Securities said, "yES Bank has witnessed a sharp bearish breakdown on the daily chart, signalling a significant deterioration in its technical structure. The stock has decisively breached multiple horizontal support zones around Rs 21-20 zone, with price moving below Rs 17 as well, indicating aggressive selling pressure and a continuation of the prevailing downtrend.

The earlier support zone of Rs 17 now acts as immediate resistance, followed by Rs 20 & Rs 21, while the declining moving averages around Rs 22-23 zone also present additional hurdles. On the downside, immediate support is seen around Rs 15.50, followed by Rs 15 and Rs 14. Overall as sustained weakness below Rs 17-18 zone could extend the decline towards Rs 14-Rs 12 levels, while any recovery may attract selling pressure unless the stock decisively reclaims Rs 20-21 zone once again."

Meanwhile, global brokerages remain cautious on YES Bank, with Goldman Sachs setting a price target of Rs 17 and Citi forecasting a potential decline to Rs 16.50. Kotak Institutional Equities and Nuvama Institutional Equities have assigned even lower target prices of Rs 16. Morgan Stanley has an 'Underweight' rating on the stock, with a target price of Rs 17.

Nuvama Institutional Equities retained its 'Reduce' rating, citing concerns over the bank's core profitability and the potential financial impact of its additional tier-1 (AT1) bond-related liability. According to the brokerage, the potential hit could restrict the bank's ability to accelerate growth.

Nuvama also lowered its target price to Rs 16 from Rs 22, while identifying a potential capital infusion from Japan's SMFG as a key factor to watch.

In contrast, Ventura Securities remains bullish on the stock. The brokerage maintained its 'Buy' recommendation and a target price of Rs 24.20, implying a potential upside of 39% over the next 24 months from the prevailing market price.