National Securities Depository Limited

Financial Services — Financial Data & Stock Exchanges · BSE

₹747.40−₹1.50 (−0.20%)

DalalBaazaar Score

76 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

Driven by small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with modest growth. Nothing on this snapshot stands out as an immediate concern — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 8:27 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of National Securities Depository Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

National Securities Depository Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides depository services in India. It operates through Depository, Database Management Services, and Banking Services segments.

IndustryFinancial Data & Stock Exchanges

SectorFinancial Services

Employees549

Annual revenue₹1,529 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,529 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹25 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹37 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 549 employees supports ₹2.79 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹2.79 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BAJAJ FINANCE LIMITED, HDFC BANK LTD, ICICI BANK LTD., STATE BANK OF INDIA. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Not assessable from these ratios

For a lender, returns on capital are shaped by leverage and funding cost rather than by pricing power, so the usual financial signature of an advantage does not apply. Judge this one on deposit franchise, cost of funds and asset quality — none of which are in this data.

Peer median ROE16.5%

What is the outlook?

5 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 8.7% and earnings to grow about 13.9% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+8.7%

Est. earnings growth+13.9%

Analysts5

What has been driving growth?

Growth has come mainly from selling more, rather than from keeping more of each sale. Over 3 years revenue moved +50% while net margin moved +8% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+50%

Margin effect+8%

DalalBaazaar Score

76/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

• P/E of 38.5x already prices in growth
✓ P/E is 25% below its own historical median of 51.3x — cheap by its own standards
✗ P/B of 6.30x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

83/ 100

Excellent

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

42/ 100

Expensive

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A good business, but the price already reflects that. The quality is real; the question is whether you are overpaying for it today.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

38.5x

1.3Y Median

51.3x

16 monthly readings · mean 53.2x · range 39.4x–72.2x

Sector Median

17.0x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 25% below its 1.3y median of 51.3x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

⚠️Against its sector it trades 126% above the peer median of 17.0x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

51.3x median over 16 months · -25%

vs. sector peers

Expensive

17.0x median of 4 peers · +126%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

26.3x

PEG

2.21

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 31.6% to 36.7% over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 100% against revenue growth of 50% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

No automated checks triggered

None of the automated financial checks below were triggered on the years of data available. That is not the same as a clean bill of health — see what could not be checked.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 31.6% to 36.7%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 25% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

A premium to the sector to defend
It trades 126% above the peer median. That premium needs a reason that persists, or it closes.
Size brings its own risk
Small Cap businesses are thinly traded, so exits are harder in a falling market and single events move the price more than they would for a larger company.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1Revenue growth stays above 11% a year✓ 14.4% CAGR
Latest reported year was 61.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 35%✓ 36.7%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Return on equity stays above 14%✓ 16.0%
For a lender this is the cleanest single read on whether the book is being grown profitably.
4Valuation vs its own median of 51.3x✓ 38.5x today
A re-rating above its own history needs a reason; without one it is just a higher price.

Investment Checklist

11 / 12 checks passed

✓ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✓ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✓ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

5 good · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹14,948 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

38.5x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

6.30x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹19.42

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

16.0%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

21.2%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.70x

Moderate

Moderate leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

61.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

9.6%

Modest

Slow profit growth

Dividend Yield

0.54%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹578 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

33.8x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

23.9%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

20.7%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.34

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

758.9 / 790.1

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

35.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹1,021 Cr	₹1,268 Cr	₹1,420 Cr	₹1,529 Cr	+14.4%
EBITDA	₹323 Cr	₹365 Cr	₹474 Cr	₹561 Cr	+20.2%
EBITDA Margin	31.6%	28.8%	33.4%	36.7%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹235 Cr	₹275 Cr	₹343 Cr	₹380 Cr	+17.4%
EPS	₹11.74	₹13.77	₹17.16	₹18.99	+17.4%
ROE	16.4%	16.4%	17.1%	16.0%	—
ROCE	21.1%	20.9%	22.6%	21.2%	—
Total Debt	₹17 Cr	₹14 Cr	₹10 Cr	₹17 Cr	-0.4%
Free Cash Flow	₹459 Cr	-₹131 Cr	₹489 Cr	₹578 Cr	+8.0%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 14.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 20.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 31.6% to 36.7% over 3 years (+5.0 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 17.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 17.4% a year over 3 years.

🟡 ROE has held roughly flat at 16.0% over 3 years.

🟡 ROCE has held roughly flat at 21.2% over 3 years.

🟡 Total Debt has been broadly flat over 3 years (-0.4% a year).

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 8.0% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3,819 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,440 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹222 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹713 Cr

Capex

-₹135 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

5.0%

Insider Holding

47.9%

Corporate Actions

Dividend Rate

₹4

Ex-Dividend Date

11 Sept 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

2 Buy · 2 Hold · 2 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹865

+15.7% vs CMP

Target Range

₹810 – ₹930

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BAJAJ FINANCE LIMITED	30.2x	17.8%
HDFC BANK LTD	15.9x	13.8%
ICICI BANK LTD.	18.1x	16.5%
STATE BANK OF INDIA	10.3x	15.2%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

National Securities Depository Ltd Share Price

Business Today, 16 Oct

National Securities Depository Limited Actuals & Estimates (BSE:NSDL)

TradingView, 26 Jun

NSDL hits new low, down 8% vs IPO; CDSL up 748%; analysts decode divergence

Business Standard, 09 OctAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Hold National Securities Depository; target of Rs 840: ICICI Securities

Moneycontrol.com, 06 Aug

National Securities Depository Ltd | Stock Share Price Live

MarketSmith India, 12 Nov

NSDL (National Securities Depository) Q4 Results 2026: Date, Revenue, PAT and Analyst Outlook

Univest, 27 AprAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
This is a financial-sector business: borrowing is its raw material, not leverage in the usual sense. Debt/Equity and ROCE here aren't comparable to a manufacturer's — read them alongside NIM, GNPA and capital adequacy from the company's own disclosures.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability

MiddlingValuation · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Good business, demanding price

The quality is real and the price already reflects it. Buying here is a bet that the business keeps compounding for long enough to grow into the multiple — which good businesses often do, but it removes the margin for error that a lower price would have given you.

All 4 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑