HPCL gains after a foreign brokerage upgrades the stock

HPCL gained 1.84% to Rs 547.35 at 11:30 IST on BSE after reports a foreign brokerage upgraded the stock to buy from neutral.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 30.91 points or 0.11% at 28,194.20.

On BSE, so far 78,078 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 2.19 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 551.40 and a low of Rs 538.65 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 588.80 on 12 November 2014. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 199 on 22 November 2013.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 18 November 2014, rising 9.42% compared with the Sensex's 7.87% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, jumping 22% as against Sensex's 6.72% rise.

Recent fall in crude oil prices had perked up the prices of the stock. . Lower crude oil prices could reduce under-recoveries of PSU OMCs on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.

The large-cap PSU oil marketing firm has an equity capital of Rs 338.63 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The brokerage also raised the price target of the stock. The brokerage cites sharp decline in crude oil prices and diesel deregulation as key reason for the upgrade. LPG subsidies too should structurally decline. It also reportedly said consensus will shun the price-to-book based methodology to value these companies to earnings-based approach.

Brent crude held steady below $79 a barrel today, 19 November 2014, as data showed Saudi Arabia increased crude exports in September despite signs of an oversupplied market and divisions between OPEC members seemed to grow ahead of a meeting next week. Brent for January settlement was up 1 cent to $78.48 a barrel. Brent crude oil futures lost 0.84 cents or 1.06% to close at $78.47 a barrel on Tuesday, 18 November 2014.

HPCL's net profit jumped 166.6% to Rs 850.21 crore on 0.4% fall in total income to Rs 51964 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013.

The Government of India holds 51.11% stake in the firm as at 30 September 2014.

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