Larsen & Toubro scales new high, up 12% in a week; m-cap touches Rs 2.07 tn

The stock hit a new high of Rs 1,473, up 1.7 per cent today, surpassing its previous high of Rs 1,470 recorded on February 1, 2018 in intra-day trade.

Shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) hit an all-time high of Rs 1,473 per share, up 1.7 per cent, on the BSE on Wednesday pipping its previous record-high of Rs 1,470 apiece. As a result, its market capitalisation (m-cap) hit a new high of Rs 2.07 trillion during the day.

In the past six trading sessions, L&T has outperformed the market by surging 12 per cent, as compared to a 5 per cent rise in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. Thus far, however, in the current calendar year, the stock has underperformed with gain of 2 per cent against an 8 per cent rally in the benchmark index.

The construction major's group chairman A M Naik has said that strategic initiatives like L&T NxT will push the standalone m-cap to Rs 3 trillion and revenue to Rs 2 trillion in five years. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

Analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher maintain ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,744 citing robust guidance in challenging environment.

“L&T has guided for 12‐15 per cent sales growth, Ebtida margin of 10.5 per cent, and 10‐12 per cent order inflow growth for FY20. It expects strong ordering momentum to start from July-September (Q2FY20) onwards. The company continues to focus on its strategic plan of achieving profitable growth and improving return on equity (RoE) in medium term,” the brokerage firm said in its result update.

The rating agency Crisil believes L&T will maintain leadership in the E&C (Engineering and construction) segment in India, and is positioned to benefit from the large infrastructure spending over the medium term.

"Moreover, the company is likely to maintain its healthy cash accrual despite the challenging market conditions for the E&C segment. It is expected to continue with its divestment strategy and its capital investments are expected to remain restricted to those required for existing projects over this period. Management's focus on deleveraging and on improving the RoCE, is expected to lead to a better financial risk profile, the rating agency said on rating rationale last week.