By Aditya Raghunath

Investing.com — Escorts Ltd (NS:), a conglomerate that operates in the sectors of farm machinery, construction machinery and railway equipment, announced its results for the third quarter of FY21, ended December 2020. It posted an increase of 83.4% in its net profit toRs 280.7 crores compared to Rs 153.1 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal year.

The company’s revenues across businesses improved to Rs 2,017.4 crore in the December 2020 quarter compared to Rs 1,633.4 crore in the December 2019 quarter.“Agriculture demand for tractors and farm mechanisation is witnessing a continuous growth. We are hopeful of a sustained momentum as we see strengthening in farm and rural economies,” said CMD Nikhil Nanda.

Tractor sales increased by 25.7%to 31,562 units from 25,109 units in December 2019. Construction equipment sales increased by 20.1%to 1,254 machines from 1,044 in December 2019.

The stock is currently trading at Rs 1,401 and analysts are bullish on the stock. Brokerage firms have given targets ranging from Rs 1,500 (ICICI Securities) to Rs 1,700 (Kotak Institutional Securities).

It also helps that ace investor Rakesh Jhunjunwalaowns 4.75 of Escorts (NS:) as of December 31, 2020. However, one point to note is that ‘The Big Bull’ has been reducing his share in Escorts even as the stock has given returns of 207% from its lows in March 2020. Jhunjhunwala owned 7.42% of the company at the end of March 2020. He reduced it to 5.64% at the end of September 2020.