On February 4, 2025, LIC Housing Finance (LICHF) witnessed a notable uptick in its share price, rising by approximately 3% to trade around Rs 571.50. This increase comes on the heels of Jefferies brokerage firm adjusting its target price for the company from Rs 795 to Rs 700 while maintaining a “Buy” rating.
After this update, the ONGC stocks have gone up by 3.2% to reach an intraday level of Rs 257.15 on the BSE.
It also envisaged demonstrable production growth in the coming few years of the financial year 2021-2024 (FY25-28). Crucial, the latest development identified by the brokerage is the ONGC-BP tie-up to redevelop its biggest field to fan fresh production.
In addition, Jefferies has also raised its standalone earnings estimates for FY26 and FY27 by 2% and 4%, respectively, because it has retained a favorable view of the company’s earnings. The brokerage believed that arising from the recent regulatory measures, ONGC will have improved its profit margin.
This report covers the company’s strong production growth plan with the help of a partnership with BP and other interior strategies. The agreement with BP is even more valuable since it seeks to increase the production from the existing fields, with the stakeholder being ONGC’s largest field to support increased volume.
There are also some very good signs highlighted by Jefferies from a risk-reward point of view on ONGC; according to this, the stock has a good upside with respect to the downside risks that have been perceived at the moment.
The positives of further regulatory actions on ONGC’s profitability are recognized in the report, but the nature of such actions is not specified.
ONGC Share Price History
In the last year, ONGC’s shares have been down by a marginal percentage of 1.67%. Nevertheless, the index has displayed a YTD return of 6.73 points for the year 2011.
In the short-term, the asset has performed poorly; it was down by 2.24% in the monthly average while slightly lower at 6.95% on a three-month average and significantly down by 23.38% on a six-month average.
Market Reactions And Broader Sentiment
The overall market sentiment towards LIC Housing Finance has been cautiously optimistic following its Q3 results. Other brokerage firms have also weighed in on the stock’s performance:
- HSBC upgraded its rating to “Hold” with a target price of Rs 600, citing improvements in asset quality despite ongoing market share losses.
- CITI remains optimistic with a “Buy” rating and a target price of Rs 851, highlighting that earnings were bolstered by a net write-back in provisions.
- Conversely, firms like Motilal Oswal have expressed concerns regarding muted loan growth but have maintained their buy ratings based on stable NIMs and strong retail mortgage positions.