
Shares of ITC crossed the Rs 300 mark for the first time in three years today amid higher broader markets. ITC stock hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 302.2 today against the previous close of Rs 298.10 on BSE. ITC stock was trading higher than 5-day, 20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages.
Shares of ITC have gained 45.5 per cent in a year and risen 38.03 per cent since the beginning of this year. In a month, the stock has gained 11.51 per cent.
Meanwhile, the BSE FMCG index has gained 12.77 per cent from 13,604 on June 22 to 15,342 in the current session.
Total 3.04 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 9.02 crore on BSE. The market cap of the firm rose to Rs 3.71 lakh crore. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 204.50 on August 26, 2021.
Here's a look at what analysts and brokerages said about the outlook of the stock amid the current rally.
Pavitraa Shetty, Co-founder, and Trainer, Tips2Trades said, "Weaker global markets and correction in IT companies has led to strong buying in sectors which can comfortably pass on inflation costs like FMCG companies including ITC over past two months. A sustained close above Rs 300 could lead to Rs 315 in the coming weeks. However, long term investors can book some profit now and wait for a dip near 280-284 to initiate fresh buy."
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Centrum Broking has assigned a buy call on ITC stock with a target price of Rs 351. Time period for the call is one year.
On June 29, 2022, Motilal Oswal gave a target price of Rs 335, a 22 per cent upside to the ITC stock price at that time.
The brokerage attributed the likely upside for the stock to a stable tax environment for cigarettes in the recent years, which has allowed ITC to calibrate price increases to avoid a disruption in demand.
"We expect this trend to continue and this should result in improved cigarette volumes and earnings visibility over the medium term. The breadth of ITC's FMCG product portfolio gives it an advantage in a rapidly changing demand environment. Its leadership position in some categories gives it pricing power to offset incremental input cost pressures in other categories, where pricing power is not as strong," Motilal Oswal said.
ITC Q4 results: Cigarettes, agri-biz boost firm's FY22 performance
Manoj Dalmia, founder and director, Proficient Equities said, "ITC had been consolidating for a week and now it has again given a breakout. With the current levels, we expect the target price to be around Rs 315. Investors can accumulate at dip with a long-term view."
Ravi Singhal, CEO, GCL said "As we can see after palm oil prices fell by more than 20 per cent from their peak, it will help to increase margins, and there are rumors in the market that a disinvestment is possible in the fourth quarter, which will cause the stock to outperform. Target price is Rs 340 in the coming months."
Ravi Singh, vice-president and head of Research, Share India said, "ITC shares are riding high amid the overall strength in FMCG sector. The ITC stock is potentially stronger than peers due to its robust recovery in cigarette and hotel business and cost optimisation. On technical setup, the counter is in a strong bullish trend by major momentum indicators. Investors may hold their positions for a target of Rs 325 in the near term."
Tirthankar Das, Head of Technical Research, Ashika Group said, "FMCG sector continues with its outperformance as the NSE FMCG index continues to form higher peak and higher trough in all time frame. In that space, ITC remains a clear outperformer. Recently, prices have registered a breakout of the 1.5-month-old congestion area thus offering fresh entry opportunity. However, immediate resistance from the stock arises from the two-year old supply line adjoining the highs of June'20 (209), Feb'21(239) and Oct'21 (262) against which the elevated resistance is placed at Rs 296- Rs 300. The said level further coincides with the projected 161.8% retracement of the last visible correction (Oct'21-Feb'22), while on the oscillator front, presence of Class B divergence calls for the first signs of price exhaustion. Hence, for the trend follower, price sustenance above Rs 300 would continue to maintain positive biasness while for medium term investors a corrective dip towards Rs 275- Rs 280 should be used as ideal buying opportunity to ride the next leg of up move towards Rs 330- Rs 335."
In Q4 of last fiscal, the FMCG-cigarette-to-hotel major logged a year-on-year consolidated net profit of Rs 4,196 crore, up 11.7 per cent in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 against a net profit of Rs 3,755.47 crore in the year-ago period.
Sequentially, net profit rose 3.4 per cent from Rs 3,755.47 crore in the December quarter (Q3FY22). Revenue from operations for the period came at Rs 17,754.02 crore, up 15 per cent in the March quarter.
The company reported a revenue of Rs 15,404.37 crore in the corresponding period. Consolidated total income stood at Rs 18,252.64 crore as against Rs 10,944.64 crore in the year-ago quarter.
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