Mutual Funds Sundaram, SBI buy stakes in Hatsun Agro for ₹269 cr in open market

Dairy products maker, Hatsun Agro Product on Tuesday climbed nearly 4% on exchanges after two major mutual fund houses bought certain shares in the company via the open market. At the same time, promoter Raja Ganesan Chandramogan offloaded a portion of his equity shares in the company aggregating to nearly ₹269 crore. 

According to block deals data on BSE, Sundaram Mutual Fund bought 12 lakh equity shares at ₹987.8 per share aggregating to nearly ₹118.54 crore. Meanwhile, SBI Mutual Fund purchased 15.20 lakh equity shares at ₹987.8 apiece amounting to ₹150.15 crore.

Together, these mutual fund houses have purchased shares worth ₹268.68 crore in the company.

On the other hand, promoter Chandramogan sold 12 lakh shares and 15.20 lakh shares at ₹987.8 apiece each.

As of June 30, 2022, as per the shareholding pattern, Chandramogan held 12,07,19,651 equity shares or 56% in Hatsun.

On BSE, Hatsun Agro shares closed at ₹1012.60 apiece up by ₹26.55 or 2.69%. The shares had touched the day's high of ₹1024.70 apiece -- resulting in a 3.9% jump in the day.

The company's market valuation is around ₹21,827.94 crore.

Hatsun Agro reported the highest ever quarterly sales volumes and crossed the sales mark of ₹2,000 crore for the first time in Q1FY23.

In the June 2022 quarter, Hatsun Agro registered a net profit of ₹51.95 crore against ₹58.33 crore in the same quarter last year. Revenue from operations stood at ₹2,014.60 crore in Q1FY23 against ₹1,538.78 crore in Q1 a year ago.

For the first quarter of FY23, the company paid a dividend of ₹6 per equity share (600%) on the fully paid-up equity shares having a face value of Re 1 each.

Post Q1FY23, analysts at ICICI Securities in their research note said, "We believe the company will likely report higher profitability in the coming quarters, due to moderation in input prices and price hikes. We model Hatsun to report a PAT CAGR of 27.4% over FY22-24E with: (1) high single-digit growth in milk procurement, (2) commencement of three new plants, and (3) higher share of value-added products. We remain structurally positive on Hatsun due to its competitive advantages and strong growth opportunity in south India."