Share price of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hit another new 52-week and an all-time high in early trade today. The stock clocked 23 new intraday highs out of its 92 trading sessions since listing. The stock price of public sector behemoth is slowly but steadily approaching the key Rs 2,000 mark
On October 14, 2019, IRCTC share price was listed on BSE and NSE. On Thursday, IRCTC's 52-week high of Rs 1,939.80 is almost 506% higher from its issue price of Rs 320 and 201% higher from its listing price of Rs 644.
The Indian Railways stock which closed at Rs 933.45 on December 31, 2019, rallied to Rs 1,939.80, rising 107% year-to-date. Stock price of IRCTC has rallied 91% in the last one month and risen 20% in a week.
Also read: IRCTC share rises over 11% post Q3 earnings
Volume-wise, 3.78 lakh and 54.63 lakh shares were trading on BSE and NSE, respectively. IRCTC stock price is trading higher than its 5, 20, 50, 100 and 200-day moving averages.
Market depth data suggests 91% of bidders are buying and only 9% of sellers are offering the stock. The market capitalisation of the large-cap stock rose to 30,242 crore on BSE today from Rs 29,290 crore clocked post yesterday's close.
Of late, the firm has delivered a stellar performance on the earnings front. The ticketing arm of IRCTC reported a 179% rise in net profit at Rs 205.80 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019, against a net profit of Rs 73.59 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal on February 12 this year. On a sequential basis, profit grew 106.17% from Rs 99.82 crore in the September quarter of this fiscal. The stock had closed at 1,418.95 on the result day. Since the announcement of Q3 earnings, the IRCTC stock has risen 36%.
IRCTC's net profit grew 14% for the half-year period ended September 30, 2019, while its total earnings from internet ticketing services jumped 80.8% to Rs 199.3 crore.
Prabhudas Liladhaer in its recent report post-budget included IRCTC stock in its top picks on back of its strong growth visibility and above-market growth rates.
"IRCTC is a monopolistic conglomerate with no comparable listed peer set & limited valuation history," it added in its research note.
IRCTC is the only entity authorised by Indian Railways to manufacture and distribute packaged drinking water (PDW) at all railway stations and on trains. It also provides food catering services to passengers on trains (mobile catering) and at stations (static catering).
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