ITC share price hits record high, market cap crosses ₹6.5 lakh crore for the first time. Should you buy?

ITC share price gained nearly a per cent on Thursday, September 26 to hit a record high of ₹522.50 on BSE, with its market capitalisation crossing ₹6.5 lakh crore for the first time. 

The hotels-to-FMCG conglomerate ITC on September 25 announced that it has been allotted 1,413 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares of Sproutlife Foods Private Ltd.

The preference shares of Sproutlife have been acquired pursuant to a follow-on investment in terms of the Securities Subscription & Purchase Agreement and the Shareholders Agreement executed on 19th April, 2023 to acquire 100% of the share capital (on a fully diluted basis) of Sproutlife in one or more tranches.

With the acquisition of 1,413 CCPS, ITC’s shareholding in Sproutlife aggregates to around 47.50% of its share capital at a total investment of ₹255 crore.

“The acquisition is in line with the strategy to augment the Company’s future ready portfolio in the foods segment,” ITC said.

Sproutlife is a start-up engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling food products under the trademark ‘Yoga Bar’. It currently has high salience of on-line sales (D2C, e-commerce platforms etc.) with growing presence in offline stores.

ITC Share Price Outlook

ITC stock price has seen a gradual upmove as it has risen nearly 22% in the past three months. The stock has gained over 12% year-to-date (YTD), while it is up more than 17% in the past one year.

Analysts are bullish on ITC shares as long as they remains above the psychological mark of ₹500 level.

“I expect ITC shares to stay strong and make incremental highs. The overall FMCG sector is expected to outperform the broader markets and so will ITC stock. ITC shares are estimated to do well above the ₹500 level, which is its major technical as well as psychological support,” said Milan Vaishnav, founder of ChartWizard FZE and Gemstone Equity Research.

He expects ITC stock to see an upside to ₹530 - ₹538 levels in the near term. However, if ITC shares fall below ₹500 level, Vaishnav expects the stock to see a consolidation thereon.

At 11:45 am, ITC shares were trading 0.39% higher at ₹519.45 apiece on the BSE, commanding a market cap of over ₹6.49 lakh crore.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.