homemarket NewsDr. Lal Pathlabs gets a double upgrade from Kotak Institutional after 'prolonged underperformance'
Dr. Lal Pathlabs gets a double upgrade from Kotak Institutional after 'prolonged underperformance'
Kotak Institutional Equities conducted a pricing exercise across seven cities which is indicating a further improvement in pricing trends for the diagnostic players.
Dr. Lal Pathlabs, the diagnostics services provider has received a double upgrade from Kotak Institutional Equities to "Add" from its earlier rating of "sell" after what the brokerage calls, a "prolonged period of underperformance."
The brokerage has also increased its price target on Dr. Lal Pathlabs to ₹2,360 from ₹1,975 earlier. The revised price target implies a potential upside of 8% from last Friday's closing levels.
Kotak Institutional Equities conducted a pricing exercise across seven cities which is indicating a further improvement in pricing trends for the diagnostic players.
"Even as the pricing differential of listed incumbents with online players stays elevated at 2x-2.6x, an increasingly benign competitive landscape alleviates any major concerns on structural volume growth and margins of Dr. Lal Pathlabs and Metropolis," the Kotak Institutional Equities note said.
Shares of Dr. Lal have seen a correction of close to 15% so far in 2024. Kotak attributed that the correction was led by the exit of the company's CEO. However, the brokerage believes that Dr. Lal has an able leadership team in place with Om Manchanda as MD and the appointment of Shankha Banerjee as CEO, which also provides continuity.
In comparison to a one-year forward price-to-earnings premium of 20%, Dr. Lal is now trading at a discount to Metropolis Healthcare.
While the brokerage has increased Dr. Lal's price target, it has also raised on Metropolis Healthcare to ₹1,600 but has maintained its "reduce" rating on the stock citing fair valuations.
Shares of Dr. Lal Pathlabs are currently trading 5% higher at ₹2,234. As of Friday's close, the stock was still 23% below its recent peak of ₹2,767.
First Published: Mar 26, 2024 11:39 AM IST
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