Buy Astral, target price Rs 2295: ICICI Securities

ICICI Securities has buy call on Astral with a target price of Rs 2295. The current market price of Astral Ltd. is Rs 2003.75.

Astral, incorporated in the year 1996, is a Mid Cap company (having a market cap of Rs 40211.15 Crore) operating in Plastics sector.

Astral Ltd. key Products/Revenue Segments include Plastic Products and Other Operating Revenue for the year ending 31-Mar-2022.

Financials
For the quarter ended 30-09-2022, the company has reported a Consolidated Total Income of Rs 1185.10 Crore, down -3.20 % from last quarter Total Income of Rs 1224.30 Crore and up 1.98 % from last year same quarter Total Income of Rs 1162.10 Crore. Company has reported net profit after tax of Rs 75.00 Crore in latest quarter.

The company’s top management includes Mr.Sandeep P Engineer, Mrs.Jagruti S Engineer, Mr.Girish B Joshi, Mrs.Kaushal D Nakrani, Mr.Viral M Jhaveri, Mr.C K Gopal. Company has S R B C & Co. LLP as its auditors. As on 30-09-2022, the company has a total of 20 Crore shares outstanding.

Investment Rationale
The brokerage likes Astral due to its significant presence in the plumbing market, which is being boosted by demand tailwinds on account of pickup in housing market. Also, it is seen to be a beneficiary of improved margins in the adhesive segment due to falling raw material prices.

Promoter/FII Holdings
Promoters held 55.85 per cent stake in the company as of 30-Sep-2022, while FIIs owned 16.07 per cent, DIIs 14.3 per cent.