Should you buy, sell or hold SBI Life, HUL, Bharti Airtel, TCS, LTIMindtree, ICICI Prudential shares now?

Which stocks to buy, hold or sell today? As Dalal Street enters the March 9 session, here's a look at what brokerages make of some of the key stocks in focus. On their radar today are stocks such as SBI Life, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, ICICI Lombard and LTIMindtree.

Check out the full list of brokerage calls on SBI Life, TCS, Hindalco, Tata Steel, ICICI Prudential and other stocks in focus today:

SBI Life shares

TCS shares

Citi continues with a 'sell' call on TCS with a target price of Rs 2,990. Its target price implies a downside of almost 12 per cent from the blue-chip IT stock's closing price on Wednesday.  

Citi points out that the US aggregate outlook looks mixed for TCS for next couple of months.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) shares

Macquarie has an 'outperform' rating on HUL with a target of Rs 3,050. The FMCG major's stock had settled at Rs 2,484.9 apiece on Wednesday. 

Asian Paints shares

Macquarie retains an 'outperform' on Asian Paints with a target price of Rs 3,600 (26 per cent upside).

LTIMindtree shares

Macquarie also retains 'outperform' on LTIMindtree with a target of Rs 7,500. 

Bharti Airtel shares

CLSA has a 'buy' call on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 1,015, which implies an upside of 32 per cent from the closing price of the telecom stock on Wednesday.   

The brokerage highlights that Bharti Airtel's Sunil Mittal expects more hikes by mid-2023, and the compant is already on track for a nationwide rollout of 5G services by March 2024.   

An estimated 57 per cent hike in entry-level Bharti Airtel plans in 19 out of the 22 circles can boost the company's average revenue per user (ARPU) by three per cent, according to CLSA. 

ARPU is a key measure of profitability for telecom service providers. 

HCL Tech shares

Macquarie continues with an 'outperform' rating on HCL Tech with a target price of Rs 1,520. That translates to an upside of 41 per cent from Wednesday's price. 

ICICI Prudential, ICICI Lombard shares

Credit Suisse maintains an 'underperform' rating on ICICI Prudential Life Insurance with a target price of Rs 430. The target still implies upside potential of 5.5 per cent from Wednesday's closing price. 

The brokerage retains an 'outperform' call on ICICI Lombard General Insurance with a target price of Rs 1,500 (37 per cent upside).  

According to Morgan Stanley, the insurance industry is estimated to register 10 per cent year-on-year growth in retail weighted received premium (RWRP), the same level as the previous month. RWRP is a key measure of income for insurance businesses. 

The brokerage expects the RWRP for the private sector to have improved by 400 bps sequentially to 18 per cent in February 2023. 

Tata Steel shares

Jefferies has Tata Steel as its top stock pick in the metal space, followed by Hindalco. According to the brokerage, data shows that the China economy is showing signs of recovery, and the export steel price of the country has risen 14 per cent on a year-to-date basis so far. 

Jefferies also points out that Indian metal stocks have underperformed most of their global peers in 2023 so far, which can prove to be a buying opportunity. The brokerage retains a 'buy' call on Tata Steel with a target price of Rs 145. 

Hindalco shares

Jefferies maintains a 'buy' call on Hindalco with a target price of Rs 570.  

HCL Tech shares

Macquarie continues with an 'outperform' rating on HCL Tech with a target price of Rs 1,520. That translates to an upside of 41 per cent from Wednesday's price. 

Gland Pharma shares

Citi maintains a 'sell' rating on Gland Pharma and reduces its target price by Rs 350 to Rs 1,200. The brokerage also trims its earnings per share (EPS) estimates for the three years ending March 2025 by 7-16 per cent. 

(This story will be updated shortly)

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