ITC hits yet another all-time high; is there more upside ahead?

ITC share price: The stock of the cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate hit an all-time high on Thursday. That was the latest among a series of unprecedented levels over the past few weeks. Here's what's keeping the Street excited.

ITC shares touched a fresh record high on Thursday, surpassing the Rs 434.7 level touched the previous day. | Image: Reuters

ITC shares scaled an all-time high on Thursday, continuing to rise for the third session in a row. The stock of the cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate gained by Rs 9.1 or 2.1 per cent to Rs 442.5 apiece on BSE — its highest-ever intraday level so far.

ITC shares have grown about one-third in value in 2023 so far, sharply outperforming a one per cent rise in the overall market, and many analysts expect to see even higher levels in the stock going forward.

ITC Q4 results

ITC reported a strong set of quarterly numbers last week. Its net profit increased 1.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 5,086.9 crore for the quarter ended March 2023 and revenue expanded 0.6 per cent to Rs 17,224 crore,a according to a regulatory filing. Both the top-line and the bottom-line exceeded analysts' estimates.

According to Zee Business research, ITC's quarterly net profit was estimated at Rs 4,850 crore and revenue at Rs 16,361 crore. Read more on ITC Q4 earnings

How analysts view ITC shares

Many analysts have positive views on the stock. A number of brokerages raised their target prices for ITC shares this week, seeing levels as high as Rs 520 — which implies a further 17.5 per cent upside from the current high.

TRENDING NOW

Brokerage	Rating	Target price
Morgan Stanley	Overweight	Raised to Rs 474 from Rs 415
JPMorgan	Overweight	Rs 425
Citi	Buy	Raised to Rs 480 from Rs 425
Jefferies	Buy	Raised to Rs 520 from Rs 450
Nomura	Buy	Raised to Rs 485 from Rs 455
Goldman Sachs	Buy	Raised to Rs 470 from Rs 450
KRChoksey	Buy	Rs 492
Motilal Oswal	Buy	Rs 485
ICICI Securities	Add	Rs 450

ITC shares look poised for even higher levels given the way they have overcome key resistance at Rs 430, Himanshu Gupta, VP Research at Globe Capital Markets, told Zee Business. "Buying may continue in ITC shares owing on the back of fresh short-covering," he said.

He recommends buying ITC shares for short-term targets of Rs 442-445 with a stop loss at Rs 432.

Should you wait for a decline in ITC shares to enter or add?

Rakesh Bansal of Rakesh Bansal Ventures believes Rs 431 per share is a good level to enter the stock.

"Don't wait for a dip... One can expect a big, monster rally in the stock over the next two months, taking the stock higher by Rs 50-60 (from current levels)," he told Zee Business.

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