Bajaj Auto gains on foreign brokerage upgrade

Bajaj Auto rose 1.95% to Rs 2134.05 at 12:26 IST on BSE after a foreign brokerage upgraded the stock to overweight from equalweight citing improving demand for two-wheeler sales.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 134.11 points or 0.52% at 25,589.05.

On BSE, so far 22,000 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 33,389 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 2,148.10 and a low of Rs 2,098.10 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,363.90 on 2 July 2014. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 1,683.35 on 28 August 2013.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 4 August 2014, sliding 8.94% compared with the Sensex's 0.92% fall. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, jumping 9.9% as against Sensex's 14.82% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 289.37 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The foreign brokerage said that demand for two-wheelers in India will accelerate to 12 and 12.3% for FY 2015 and FY 2016 as macro factors improve along with new launches.

Bajaj Auto's total sales rose 13% to 3.19 lakh units in July 2014 over July 2013. Motorcycle sales rose 9% to 2.67 lakh units in July 2014 over July 2013. Commercial Vehicle sales surged 49% to 51,451 units in July 2014 over July 2013. Exports rose 54% to 1.69 lakh units in July 2014 over July 2013. The sales numbers were announced during market hours on Monday, 4 August 2014.

Bajaj Auto's net profit rose 0.3% to Rs 739.98 crore on 6.8% growth in net sales to Rs 5133.37 crore in Q1 June 2014 over Q1 June 2013.

Bajaj Auto is India's second largest two-wheeler maker after Hero MotoCorp.

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