Rs 12 to Rs 25: Multibagger HCC shares soared over 100% in a year. More steam left? Analysts divided

Shares of Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC) on Friday resumed their upward run after a brief single-day hiatus. During intraday trade, the stock surged 12.75 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 26.44. It eventually settled 5.42 per cent higher at Rs 24.72 over its previous close of Rs 23.45. Considering today's closing price of Rs 24.72, HCC has gained 20.18 per cent this week. Also, it has turned multibagger by rallying 100.98 per cent in the past one year. The scrip saw massive trading volumes today as 2.45 crore shares changed hands on BSE, higher than the two-week average volume of 1.55 crore shares. Turnover on the counter stood at Rs 61.59 crore, commanding a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 3,740.21 crore.

In terms of earnings, the company posted a consolidated profit of Rs 52.73 crore for the June quarter (Q1 FY24) as against a loss of Rs 278.86 crore in the year-ago period. HCC's consolidated revenue grew 15.07 per cent to Rs 2,564.83 crore in Q1 FY24 from Rs 2,228.92 crore in Q1 FY23.

On technical setup, analysts largely mixed on the counter. Two of them said it may see Rs 28 level in the near term, while a couple of more analysts suggested booking profits at current levels. Support level could be seen at Rs 24.20.

Vaishali Parekh, Vice-President - Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, said, "The stock has witnessed a significant spurt in the last 3-4 sessions. It has given a breakout above Rs 24.50 zone with bias and trend maintained strong anticipating for a further rise in the coming days. From current levels, the trend would turn weak only if it falls below the Rs 23 level. With the bias remaining intact at current levels, further upside potential is visible till Rs 28-30 levels. Keep a stop loss placed at Rs 23."

Market expert Ravi Singh said, "Hindustan Construction share price is looking strong on daily and weekly charts. The momentum indicators are suggesting a strong uptrend in coming days. The company's financials are also steady in the recent quarters. The stock may touch the levels of Rs 28 in near term."

Ganesh Dongre, Senior Manager - Technical Research Analyst, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers, said, At the current juncture, traders can book profit in this stock and wait for some correction to re-enter in this stock at lower levels of Rs 18-20."

AR Ramachandran from Tips2trades said, "HCC looks bullish but also overbought on the daily charts with next resistance at Rs 27.55. Investors should be booking profits at current levels as a daily close below support of Rs 24.20 could lead to target of Rs 18.90 in the near term."

The stock traded higher than the 5-day, 10-, 20-, 30-, 50-, 100-, 150-, and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs). The counter's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) came at 70.49. A level below 30 is defined as oversold while a value above 70 is considered overbought. The company's stock has a negative price-to-equity (P/E) ratio of 8.39 against a price-to-book (P/B) value of 4.93.

The scrip has a one-year beta of 1.11, indicating high volatility.

Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks extended their fall for the second straight session today. The domestic indices were dragged by pharma, healthcare, bank, financial, consumer goods, metal and automobile stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack fell 366 points or 0.56 per cent to close at 65,323; while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 115 points or 0.59 per cent lower to settle at 19,428.