DLF, L&T, ITC in Goldman Sachs' 'conviction' list

Realty major DLF, engineering behemoth Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) giant ITC are among the eight ‘conviction ideas’ of Goldman Sachs according to a September 2014 report.

Grasim Industries, IndusInd Bank, Petronet LNG, Voltas and Tech Mahindra are other stocks in this list, where the upside from closing price levels of September 4, 2014 over the next 12 months could range between 1.4 and 74.5 per cent, the report says.

The report, ‘India Weekly Kickstart’, dated September 5, by Sunil Koul, Timothy Moe and Nitin Chanduka has also revised the Nifty target to 9,000 besides recalibrating the outlook for dollar-rupee levels for the next few months.

“We roll our 12-month target for the Nifty to September 2015 (from June 2015) with our updated target of 9,000 (from 8,600 earlier). Earlier this week, we also revised our USD/INR targets to build in USD strength. Our new three, six and 12-month USD/INR forecasts are 61, 62 and 63 respectively from 58.5, 61 and 63 earlier,” the report says.

Among the lot, Goldman Sachs is most bullish on DLF that saw its stock come under selling pressure after a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Haryana government to conduct an auction of land allotted to the company by inviting international bids within a month.

Goldman Sachs maintains a target price of Rs 292 on the stock from a 12-month perspective in its report.

Global view With a 12-month Nifty target of 9,000 and earnings per share (EPS) growth of 14 per cent and 18 per cent in CY14E and CY15E respectively, Goldman Sachs maintains an overweight rating on India. “The earnings sentiment remains positive for the overall market. MSCI India is currently trading at 16.5x forward P/E and 3.0x trailing book value,” the report says.

Goldman Sachs is also overweight on China and Taiwan. It expects the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) to scale 12,300 levels and Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index (TWSE) to hit 10,800.

On the other hand, the global research and advisory firm maintains an underweight rating on Malaysian, Hong Kong, Australia and Thailand among the other global markets.

DLF Ltd

Larsen & Toubro Limited

ITC Limited