 "ICICI Bank, Power Finance, and 12 other stocks hit 52-week highs on BSE 500")
Shares of ICICI Bank, Indian Hotels, Nestle India, V-Guard Industries, Voltas, JK Cements, Titan Company, and Container Corporation of India were among the 14 stocks from the S&P BSE500 index that hit their respective 52-week highs on Wednesday.
Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Power Grid Corporation, REC and Torrent Power from electric utilities and related sector along with HDFC Asset Management Company and SBI Life Insurance Company also hit 52-week highs today. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.1 per cent at 39,473 points at 11:00 am.
ICICI Bank hit a 52-week high of Rs 439, up 1 per cent on the BSE, and surpassed its previous high of Rs 438 recorded on May 27 in intra-day trade. With a sharpened focus on risk-calibrated growth, a reducing stressed asset pool, improving NIMs, a good CASA (49.6 per cent) and a healthy tier-1 (15.1 per cent), ICICI Bank is well-poised to embark on an improving growth trajectory, according to analysts at Equirus Securities.
Analysts at JP Morgan have ‘overweight’ rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 500 per share. The bank’s focus on driving core operating profit growth with strict guard rails around risk, customer fairness, and balanced business mix balance should stand it in good stead through cycles, the foreign brokerage said in CEO meeting takeaway.
Analysts see ICICI’s deposit franchise, distribution, quality of technology leadership and subsidiaries as among the best in the Indian banking sector. Further. they believe a number of initiatives being undertaken by the bank on technology in corporate & retail banking are underappreciated by the market.
SBI Life Insurance, the top gainer in the list, rose 5 per cent to Rs 708 after the company received strong response for stake sale. The firm, which has put Rs 1,625 crore worth of shares under offer-for-sale (OFS), received bids for nearly 86 million shares against 25 million shares on offer, a 3.8 fold jump.
V-Guard Industries, too, rallied 5 per cent to Rs 248, surpassing its previous high of Rs 247 hit on June 4. The stock was trading close to its record high of Rs 255 touched on April 20, 2018.
For full year FY19, the company had delivered a growth of 12 per cent (GST-adjusted), EBITDA growth of 20 per cent and PAT growth of 24 per cent, despite the challenges faced during the quarter in terms of unfavourable weather conditions, floods in Kerala during Onam and volatility in commodity and currency. The margin expansion of 80 bps during the year was on account of lower advertisement and promotional as compared to last year. The management guided for margin expansion by around 100 bps in the coming future.
However, analysts at ICICI Securities believe that rising competition coupled with higher discounts in the non-south regions would restrict upward movement of EBITDA margin in future.
Torrent Power was up 2 per cent to Rs 278, extending its Tuesday’s 12 per cent rally, after the company received a favourable order from Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC).
GERC approved the power procurement arrangement of 278 MW between the company's UNOSUGEN power plant (capacity of 382.5 MW) and its licensed distribution business for cities of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat. The approval, with certain stipulations, is for the balance life of the plant i.e. 19 years, Torrent Power said in a regulatory filing.
Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Power Grid Corporation, REC and Torrent Power from electric utilities and related sector along with HDFC Asset Management Company and SBI Life Insurance Company also hit 52-week highs today. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.1 per cent at 39,473 points at 11:00 am.
ICICI Bank hit a 52-week high of Rs 439, up 1 per cent on the BSE, and surpassed its previous high of Rs 438 recorded on May 27 in intra-day trade. With a sharpened focus on risk-calibrated growth, a reducing stressed asset pool, improving NIMs, a good CASA (49.6 per cent) and a healthy tier-1 (15.1 per cent), ICICI Bank is well-poised to embark on an improving growth trajectory, according to analysts at Equirus Securities.
Analysts at JP Morgan have ‘overweight’ rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 500 per share. The bank’s focus on driving core operating profit growth with strict guard rails around risk, customer fairness, and balanced business mix balance should stand it in good stead through cycles, the foreign brokerage said in CEO meeting takeaway.
Analysts see ICICI’s deposit franchise, distribution, quality of technology leadership and subsidiaries as among the best in the Indian banking sector. Further. they believe a number of initiatives being undertaken by the bank on technology in corporate & retail banking are underappreciated by the market.
SBI Life Insurance, the top gainer in the list, rose 5 per cent to Rs 708 after the company received strong response for stake sale. The firm, which has put Rs 1,625 crore worth of shares under offer-for-sale (OFS), received bids for nearly 86 million shares against 25 million shares on offer, a 3.8 fold jump.
V-Guard Industries, too, rallied 5 per cent to Rs 248, surpassing its previous high of Rs 247 hit on June 4. The stock was trading close to its record high of Rs 255 touched on April 20, 2018.
For full year FY19, the company had delivered a growth of 12 per cent (GST-adjusted), EBITDA growth of 20 per cent and PAT growth of 24 per cent, despite the challenges faced during the quarter in terms of unfavourable weather conditions, floods in Kerala during Onam and volatility in commodity and currency. The margin expansion of 80 bps during the year was on account of lower advertisement and promotional as compared to last year. The management guided for margin expansion by around 100 bps in the coming future.
However, analysts at ICICI Securities believe that rising competition coupled with higher discounts in the non-south regions would restrict upward movement of EBITDA margin in future.
Torrent Power was up 2 per cent to Rs 278, extending its Tuesday’s 12 per cent rally, after the company received a favourable order from Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC).
GERC approved the power procurement arrangement of 278 MW between the company's UNOSUGEN power plant (capacity of 382.5 MW) and its licensed distribution business for cities of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat. The approval, with certain stipulations, is for the balance life of the plant i.e. 19 years, Torrent Power said in a regulatory filing.
| COMPANY | LATEST | 52 WK HIGH | PREV HIGH | PREV DATE |
| CONTAINER CORPN. | 564.55 | 568.50 | 563.20 | 16-Jan-19 |
| HDFC AMC | 1969.95 | 1979.00 | 1971.00 | 25-Jun-19 |
| ICICI BANK | 435.45 | 438.90 | 437.90 | 27-May-19 |
| INDIAN HOTELS | 158.50 | 164.10 | 161.00 | 02-May-19 |
| J K CEMENTS | 1021.15 | 1075.00 | 1072.60 | 27-May-19 |
| NESTLE INDIA | 11800.00 | 11947.95 | 11820.00 | 11-Jun-19 |
| POWER FIN.CORPN. | 135.45 | 136.80 | 136.10 | 06-Jun-19 |
| POWER GRID CORPN | 206.50 | 208.30 | 204.70 | 03-Sep-18 |
| REC LTD | 162.50 | 163.40 | 162.30 | 25-Jun-19 |
| SBI LIFE INSURAN | 708.10 | 714.80 | 713.80 | 24-Jun-19 |
| TITAN COMPANY | 1317.50 | 1322.60 | 1320.80 | 25-Jun-19 |
| TORRENT POWER | 276.10 | 279.00 | 276.60 | 03-Dec-18 |
| V-GUARD INDS. | 249.40 | 250.15 | 247.00 | 04-Jun-19 |
| VOLTAS | 650.00 | 658.55 | 654.30 | 25-Jun-19 |
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