3 oil & gas stocks to buy: BSE oil & gas index at new 52-wk high; Modi commits to bring gas under GST

Oil and gas stocks were in focus on Friday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government is committed to bring natural gas Goods and Services Tax (GST). This will help to make the prices uniform and cheaper in the country. The government has also planned to spend over Rs 7.5 lakh crore in the country’s oil and gas infrastructure in the next five years. When GST was implemented in 2017, only five petro-products — petrol, diesel, crude oil, natural gas, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) — were kept out of its purview. Analysts at Emkay Global Financial Services noted that clarity relating to the GST rate, estimation of input tax credit (ITC) among gas players and B2B customers and whether the same will be retained or passed are among the key factors to consider.

BSE oil and gas index has hit a new 52-week high for the second in a row, rising one per cent to 15,752.67 levels. The top gainers in the index were Petronet LNG, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), GAIL (India) Ltd and Castrol India. Emkay Global Financial Services has given ‘buy’ to ONGC, GAIL and Gujarat Gas. It has a ‘hold’ rating to Oil India Ltd and Indraprastha Gas.

ONGC: The brokerage firm sees over 17 per cent upside in ONGC share price from the previous close to Rs 130 apiece. The firm’s FY22E EPS stands at 13.9 and price to earnings (P/E) ratio at 7.9x. ONGC was trading over half a per cent lower on Friday after it hit a fresh 52-week high of 113.45 apiece. So far in intraday deals, 9.18 lakh shares have traded on BSE.

GAIL (India) Ltd: GAIL (India) Ltd surged to a fresh 52-week high for the straight day, to Rs 149.45 apiece. The brokerage firm has pegged a target price of Rs 160, implying an upside of 12 per cent from previous close. Emkay Global Financial Services said that for GAIL, petchem and LPG segments where VAT is charged on feed gas, would now see recovery.

Gujarat Gas Ltd: This gas stock has a target price of Rs 475 apiece. Gujarat Gas share price rose to make a new 52-week high of Rs 526.90 apiece on Thursday. Though share price is down nearly 5 per cent from 52-week high, Gujarat Gas shares are trading in the green on Friday. On BSE, a total of 1.15 lakh shares have traded so far, while on National Stock Exchange 7.02 lakh shares have exchanged hands.

(The stock recommendations in this story are by the respective research and brokerage firm. Financial Express Online does not bear any responsibility for their investment advice. Please consult your investment advisor before investing.)