The Tiger and the Dragon: India's GDP Growth Outpaces China

The economic growth of India has finally surpassed China’s, and this is big news for investors. As you can see from the GDP growth numbers here, India’s GDP growth of 7.42% actually surpassed China’s 7.35% during 2014.

“Economist at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and Goldman Sachs have tentatively suggested that within a year or two, India might be growing more quickly than China.” – “Catching the Dragon,” the Economist, February 2015

The Indian and Chinese economies have different economic engines. For China, the economy is centered around industry and exports (representing 46.1% in 2013), while India’s economy is driven by the service industry (representing 56.9% in 2013). While both economies have benefited from the technology boom in the U.S. and Europe, India’s large supply of English-speaking workers has helped the Indian economy integrate more quickly into the global IT supply chain.

India, with its large immigrant population to developed nations, currently has CEOs working for Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Mastercard, and Pepsi, to name a few. Foreign remittances in FY 2014 to India touched a record $70 billion.

India’s new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, made a record 27 international visits since taking charge and helped revive foreign direct investment inflows which touched astronomical highs of $3.07 billion in FY 2015, which is a 200% increase since last year.

With India now leading the world in GDP growth percentage, we decided to dig into some of India’s largest public companies that can be purchased on the U.S. stock market. These companies range from quarter-trillion sized companies to quarter-billion, allowing investors to see a cross section of high-quality Indian companies available for investment.

Infosys Limited (INFY ):

Infosys Limited is a multinational company providing business consulting, technology engineering, and outsourcing services. The company focuses on custom IT solutions, and has 176,000 full-time employees. Infosys was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Bengaluru, India.

• Current Price: $17.25
• Market Cap: 39.52B
• Dividend Yield: 5.14%
• 52-week Low/High: $14.61 / $18.64

Wipro Ltd. (WIT ):

Wipro Limited provides information technology services worldwide. These services include business applications, enterprise applications, customer experience services, testing and security solutions, and many other IT services. The company was founded in 1945, is headquartered in Bengaluru, India, and employs 140,000 full-time workers.

• Current Price: $11.75
• Market Cap: 28.82B
• Dividend Yield: 1.86%
• 52-week Low/High: $10.81 / $14.18

Sify Technologies (SIFY):

Sify Technology provides integrated information and communications technology solutions and services in India. The company’s major business segments are telecom services, data center services, cloud and managed services, technology integration services, and application integration services. Sify Technologies was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Chennai, India. The company is a subsidiary of Ramanand Core Investment Company Private Limited.

• Current Price: $1.31
• Market Cap: 187.57M
• Dividend Yield: 0.96%
• 52-week Low/High: $1.09 / $2.18

Below we also take a look at some of the financial, consumer goods, and health care ADR’s.

HDFC Bank Ltd. (HDB ):

HDFC Bank Limited provides banking services to businesses and individuals in India, Bahrain, Hong Kong and Dubai. The company operates a network of 4,014 branches and 11,766 ATMs in 2,464 cities/towns. HDFC was founded in 1994 and is based out of Mumbai, India.

• Current Price: $57.38
• Market Cap: 286.54B
• Dividend Yield: 0.62%
• 52-week Low/High: $45.56 / $64.13

ICICI Bank Ltd. (IBN ):

ICICI Bank Limited provides banking and financial services in India and internationally. The company operates through retail banking, wholesale banking, treasury, other banking, life insurance, general insurance, and other segments. Further, the company provides portfolio management and alternative investment services. Recently, IBN added internet, mobile and phone banking services. As of March 31, 2015, IBN had a network of 4,050 branches and 12,451 ATM’s in India. It was founded in 1955 and is based in Mumbai, India.

• Current Price: $8.70
• Market Cap: 25.39B
• Dividend Yield: 1.81%
• 52-week Low/High: $7.81 / $13.24

Tata Motors (TTM):

Tata Motors Limited engages in the development, design, manufacture, assembly, sale, and export of passenger and commercial vehicles worldwide. The company primarily offers compact, and midsize cars and utility vehicles, but also offers heavy vehicles for commercial applications. The company is associated with the popular bands Jaguar and Land Rover. Tata Motors has 73,485 full-time employees, is based in Mumbai, India and was founded in 1945.

• Current Price: $25.42
• Market Cap: 16.40B
• Dividend Yield: 0.59%
• 52-week Low/High: $21.87 / $51.80

Dr. Reddy’s Lab (RDY ):

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories operates as an integrated pharmaceutical company worldwide. It operates three major segments: global generics, pharmaceutical services active ingredients, and proprietary products. The company has partnered with GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Serono, and Curis, in order to market its products internationally. RDY was founded in 1984, has 20,373 full-time employees and is headquartered in Hyderbad, India.

• Current Price: $65.12
• Market Cap: 11.09B
• Dividend Yield: 0.45%
• 52-week Low/High: $45.67 / $68.00

If you’re interested in more foreign stocks, check out this list of foreign dividend-paying companies. From time to time, different markets through up different opportunities that are important for dividend investors to understand.