Shares of Adani Total Gas Ltd fell sharply in Thursday's trade, extending their fall for the fifth straight session to hover near a one-year low level. The stock fell 5 per cent today to hit its lower circuit, at Rs 666.65, over a previous close of Rs 701.70. It has plunged 81.22 per cent on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. At today's lower circuit of Rs 666.65, the scrip traded just 1.78 per cent higher from its 52-week low of Rs 655, a level seen on March 1 this year. That said, the counter has lost 83.33 per cent of its value from its one-year high of Rs 3,998.35, hit on January 23, 2023. The stock continued to fall despite exiting the ASM (additional surveillance measure) framework a few sessions back.
Adani Total resumed fall earlier this month after Ahmedabad-based chartered accountancy (CA) firm Shah Dhandharia & Co resigned as statutory auditor of the company. Shah Dhandharia was named in Hindenburg Research's report. The audit firm has been replaced by Walter Chandiok & Co.
Adani Group shares saw a massive market value erosion since January 24 this year, when US-based short seller Hindenburg released a report alleging stock manipulation and accounting fraud by the energy-to-ports conglomerate. The US-based short seller had also raised the issue of the size and capability of the CA firms (including Shah Dhandharia) auditing the Adani Group. Adani and Shah Dhandharia, however, denied all the allegations.
The Supreme Court is hearing a bunch of petitions seeking a probe into Hindenburg's report against the Gautam Adani-led group. The top court would hear Sebi's plea seeking an extension of the time to submit its report.
On the technical setup, Adani Total's stock looked 'bearish', analysts said. Support on the counter could be seen at Rs 620.
AR Ramachandran from Tips2trades said, "Adani Total Gas looks bearish but also oversold on the daily charts with next support now at Rs 620. Investors should buy only if a daily close is above the resistance of Rs 710 for higher targets of Rs 854-1040 in the near term."
Ravi Singh, Vice-President and Head of Research at Share India, said, "The stock looked weak. It can correct more and can touch Rs 650."
VLA Ambala, Research Analyst at Stock Market Today, said, "The counter gave a bearish indication recently. The share price may tank more towards Rs 640-600 levels in the coming days. For Fresh buying, one should wait a little more. Rs 500 to Rs 600 could be a strong demand zone in this stock and after that targets between Rs 800 and 1,400 could be possible. Stop loss should be placed at Rs 400."
Adani Total was last seen trading lower than the 5-day, 20-, 50-, 100- and 200-day moving averages. The counter's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) came at 23.76. A level below 30 is defined as oversold while a value above 70 is considered overbought. The company's stock has a price-to-equity (P/E) ratio of 145.66. It has a price-to-book (P/B) value of 26.27.
On the earnings front, Adani Total reported a 21 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter that ended March 2023. Net profit climbed 20.74 per cent to Rs 97.91 crore in the January-March quarter compared to Rs 81.09 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.
The company is a joint venture of Adani Group and France's TotalEnergies which retails CNG to automobiles and piped gas to households.
Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks rose sharply in today's deals, led by strong buying interest in banks, financials, metals and consumer stocks.
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