Grasim Industries Stock At Life High Ahead Of Birla Opus Launch

Shares of Grasim Industries Ltd. hit a life high on Thursday after it said it will launch its paint business under the Birla Opus brand and will inaugurate three new plants.

The chairman of the Aditya Birla company, Kumar Mangalam Birla, inaugurated the three Birla Opus paint plants at Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu on Feb. 22 from their Panipat plant, according to an exchange notification.

Jefferies in a note on Feb. 22 said that Grasim Industries' foray into the paint market is likely to change share and margins in the industry. The company's aggressive try to capture the second spot is likely to propel other industry players to ramp up their efforts, it said.

"Paint sector has never seen such massive capacity build-out in such a short span even from incumbents. We expect this to reflect in industry market shares & margins," Jefferies said.

Shares of Grasim Industries rose as much as 2.28% before paring gains to trade 0.01% higher at 09:54 a.m., compared to a 0.11% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50.

The stock has risen 39.91% in the last 12 months. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 6.7 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 59.6.

Of the 10 analysts tracking the company, eight maintain a 'buy' rating, one recommends a 'hold' and one suggests a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analysts' price targets implies a potential upside of 9.6%.