Patanjali Foods share price hits 52-week high after brokerage initiates coverage; says buy for target price of Rs 1725

Shares of Patanjali Foods, formerly known as Ruchi Soya Industries, surged five per cent to hit fresh 52-week high value of Rs 1266.75 per share in BSE intraday trade on Friday. Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved acquired Ruchi Soya for Rs 4,350 crore through an insolvency process and named it Patanjali Foods.  

Patanjali Foods stock has risen over 11% amid expansion of its oil business. Patanjali Foods Limited laid foundation stone for setting up Oil Palm mill at Industrial Growth Centre, Niglok, District – East Siang, Arunachal Pradesh on August 31, 2022, the company has informed exchanges on August 31.  

In Arunachal Pradesh, it plans to undertake oil palm plantation on 38,000 ha area across 9 districts. "We have already established 2 nurseries at Pasighat and Holangi and are in the process of establishing 3 more nurseries in Lower Siang District at Kherram, FTC and Dipa. This will give impetus to the state’s economy and will bring tremendous employment generation along with increase in local farmers’ income," the FMCG company has said in a BSE filing.  

Meanwhile, brokerage firm Antique initiated coverage on Patanjali Foods with a buy rating. It sees a target price of Rs 1725, a 43% upside on Thursday's closing price of Rs 1206, in the counter.  

It was of the view that Patanjali Foods is well on its way to being a diversified FMCG and FMHG-focused company. The optimism of the brokerage on the counter was also due to the acquisition of Patanjali Ayurved's (PAL) food business. "We believe, post the acquisition of PAL food business, Patanjali Foods' may march to becoming a diversified FMCG player would only accelerate. It will strongly benefit from the Patanjali brand and PAL's (5.5 million) strong distribution network," it said 

It feels Patanjali Foods is poised to deliver robust performance over FY22-24E with strong 22% revenue growth.  

"It is one of the largest branded players in the edible oil sector with strategically located manufacturing facilities, fully integrated refining capability, and strong backward integration (palm cultivation)," it added.  

Patanjali Foods Limited is a diversified conglomerate with business interests across edible oil and derivatives, oil palm plantation, food & FMCG and nutraceutical business. In FY 2022, the company generated a revenue of Rs. 24,205 crores, registering growth of 48% compared to previous financial year.