Cement shares in demand

Ambuja Cements, ACC, UltraTech Cement, Ramco Cements, Dalmia Bharat, India Cements and JK Cement are up 2-13% on the BSE.

Shares of cement makers such as Ambuja Cements, ACC, UltraTech Cement, Ramco Cements, Dalmia Bharat, India Cements, JK Cement and JK Lakshmi Cement are up more than 2% each on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). 

Ramco Cements has rallied nearly 13% to Rs 226 in intra-day trades on the BSE after CLSA recommend ‘Buy’ rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 260 per share.

CLSA says Ramco is among the largest and the most efficient cement players in south India and will benefit from improving demand in its region.

Dalmia Bharat has also hit the upper circuit of 10% at Rs 261 on the BSE. On March 24, the company's subsidiary company, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, signed definitive agreements for acquisition of 74% stake in Bokaro Jaypee Cement Limited at a consideration of Rs 1,150 crore.

Analyst at Motilal Oswal Securities has maintain ‘Buy’ rating on the stock with target price of Rs 319. Analyst believe stock re-rating hinges upon improvement in financial performance driven by improvement in operations, especially North-East operations.

Meanwhile, analysts at HDFC Securities in a report dated March 13, 2014 said the cement companies with high exposure to North will see strong realisation and profitability gains. However, prices in South remain weak and South focused companies will likely witness realisation decline in the quarter.