Stocks Radar: Ashok Leyland, Coffee Day, Eicher Motors, Escorts, Wipro, Zee
Here’s a look at the stocks in news moving the markets today.
Indian stock markets opened lower on Thursday, with benchmarks S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 falling as much as 0.64 percent to trade at 37,240.05 and 11,052, respectively, as of 10:07 a.m.
The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. All the sectoral gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange traded lower, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 1.54 percent drop.
Here’s a look at the stocks in news moving the markets today.
Zee Falls After Rs 4,224-Crore Stake Sale Deal With Invesco
Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. fell as much as 3.91 percent to Rs 347.45 apiece, after promoters Essel Group agreed to agreed to sell up to 11 percent stake in the broadcaster to Invesco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund for Rs 4,224 crore.
The Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group, the controlling shareholder of Zee, has initiated the process of divesting key assets to repay all lenders by September, an exchange filing said.
The stock’s trading volume was more than 12 times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. Of the shares traded, 45 percent were at the ask price and 38 percent were at the bid.
Coffee Day Hits Lower Circuit For Third Straight Session
Shares of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd., which runs India’s largest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day, hit lower circuit for the third straight session. The stock slumped as much as 9.98 percent to Rs 110.50 apiece—its lowest ever.
Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha, whose body was fished out from the Netravati river near Mangaluru, was cremated at his estate in Chikmagalur, Karnataka, on Wednesday. The company has named Independent Director SV Ranganath as interim chairman in his place.
The stock’s trading volume was more than 20 times the 20-day average and the Relative Strength Index on the stock was below 30, indicating it may be ‘Oversold’.
The VG Siddhartha Whodunit
Wipro Gains After Buyback Update
Shares of software services firm Wipro Ltd. rose as much as 3.81 percent to Rs 275.40 apiece.
Wipro has received final comments on share buyback from Securities and Exchange Board of India with respect to the draft letter of offer filed by the company for a share buyback, according to an exchange filing.
The Wipro buyback period is from Aug. 14-28.
The stock’s trading volume was almost four times the 20-day average for this time of the day. Wipro trades at 17 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year, according to Bloomberg data.
Escorts Trades At Over Two-Year Low
Shares of Escorts Ltd. fell as much as 4.01 percent to Rs 451.10 apiece—its lowest since March 2017—after the company reported a fall in tractor sales in July.
Sales of Escorts tractors fell 13.4 percent year-on-year to 4,860 units in July, the farm equipment maker said in an exchange filing.
The stock trades at 42 percent below the Bloomberg consensus one-year target price. It has declined 49 percent in the past 52 weeks compared with the Sensex’s 0.3 percent drop.
Escorts Sales in July: Key Highlights (YoY)
- Domestic sales declined 17.8 percent to 4,505 units.
- Exports jumped 179.5 percent to 355 units.
Eicher Motors Hits Three-Year Low
Shares of Eicher Motors Ltd., the maker of Royal Enfield motorcycles and commercial vehicles, fell as much as 3.44 percent to Rs 15,786 apiece—its lowest since Jan. 22, 2016.
Eicher Motors’ profit fell in the quarter ended June, missing estimates, as margin contracted amid the worst auto slowdown in a decade.
The stock’s trading volume was almost five times the 20-day average for this time of the day. Eicher Motors trades at 19 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year, Bloomberg data showed.
Eicher Motors Q1 Results 2019-20: Key Highlights (YoY)
- Net profit declined 21.6 percent to Rs 451.8 crore.
- Revenue fell 6.5 percent to Rs 2,381.9 crore.
- Operating profit declined 24.1 percent to Rs 614.5 crore.
- Operating margin contracted 600 basis points to 25.8 percent.
Ashok Leyland Rises Ahead Of July Sales Data
Shares of Ashok Leyland Ltd. gained as much as 4.72 percent to Rs 73.15 a share.
The commercial vehicles maker is set to announce its July auto sales data today, a day after it declared its June quarter results.
Ashok Leyland Q1 Results 2019-20: Key Highlights (YoY)
- Net profit fell 45.4 percent to Rs 230.2 crore.
- Revenue down 9.2 percent to Rs 5,683.9 crore.
- Ebitda was down 20 percent to Rs 537 crore.
- Margin stood at 9.4 percent against 10.7 percent.
Auto Stocks In Focus
Auto stocks are on the move as companies are releasing their July sales data.
Shares of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. fluctuated between gains and losses to trade 0.65 percent higher at Rs 5,505 apiece after the company announced its July auto sales data. The country’s largest carmaker sold 1.09 lakh units last month, a fall of 33.5 percent from the year-ago period, according to its stock exchange filing.
Maruti Suzuki July Auto Sales: Key Highlights (YoY)
- Sales of mini segment fell 69.3 percent to 11,577 units.
- Sales of compact segment fell 22.7 percent to 57,512 units.
- Sales of utility vehicles fell 38.1 percent to 15,178 units.
- Sales of its only sedan, the Ciaz, stood at 2,397 units.
- Sales of vans fell 37.9 percent to 9,814 units.
- Sales of LCV Super Carry rose 0.5 percent to 1,732 units.
- Total domestic PV sales fell 36.7 percent to 96,478 lakh units.
- Total domestic sales fell 36.3 percent to 98,210 lakh units.
- Total exports declined 9.4 percent to 9,258 units.
Shares of Bajaj Auto Ltd. fell 1.70 percent to Rs 2,473.60 apiece after its sales in July declined for the first time in two years. The Chakan, Pune-based automaker sold 3.8 lakh units last month, a fall of 5 percent from July 2018, according to its filing.
Bajaj Auto July Sales: Key Highlights (YoY)
- Domestic motorcycle sales fell 15 percent to 1.7 lakh units.
- Motorcycle exports rose 15 percent to 1.51 lakh units.
- Total motorcycle sales fell 3 percent 3.22 lakh units.
- Domestic commercial vehicles sales declined 4 percent to 34,492 units.
- Commercial vehicles’ exports fell 21 percent to 24,828 units.
- Total commercial vehicle sales fell 12 percent to 59,320 units.
- Total domestic sales fell 13 percent to 2.05 lakh units.
- Total exports rose 8 percent to 1.76 lakh units.