ITC shares hit fresh all-time high today. What’s next?

Shares of ITC rose 1 per cent to hit a fresh all-time high in Thursday’s trade, taking their year-to-date rise to 60 per cent.  

The stock hit an all-time high of Rs 358 in early trade on BSE.  The cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate continues to outperform its peers in an otherwise volatile market.

Small individual investors and HNIs in the FMCG major owned over Rs 55,000 crore worth of ITC shares. However, the retail investors have back-to-back trimmed their stakes.

READ MORE: ITC: Small investors, HNIs now own Rs 55,000 cr worth shares in FMCG firm 

Post its Q2 results, most brokerages have maintained a bullish stance on the stock. The Kolkata-headquartered company posted a 24.08 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 4,670.32 crore for the September quarter on a 25.35 per cent YoY jump to Rs 18,608 crore.

READ MORE: ITC Q2 results: Profit rises 24% to Rs 4,670.32 crore

"ITC is seeing broad-based growth across segments, markets, and channels. Expected pick-up in consumption in the coming quarters led by softening inflation, normal monsoons and proactive measures taken by the Government and RBI augurs well for ITC," KRChoksey said in a note while suggesting a target of Rs 400 on the stock.

The brokerage continues to like ITC for its competitive advantage in terms of sourcing. It sees market share gains for ITC in the cigarettes business and increasing penetration of its FMCG business.

"ITC continues to shine across segments," said Nuvama Institutional Equities which has revised its price target on the stock to Rs 400 from Rs 357 earlier.

ICICI Securities has an 'Add' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 400. "Hotels business continued with the good underlying performance. Paperboards business is likely seeing structural uptrend with agribusiness also reporting robust underlying performance," it said.

Motilal Oswal is also positive on ITC as it sees better-than-expected demand recovery and a healthy margin outlook for the cigarettes segment. The brokerage expects a healthy sales momentum in the FMCG business, and smart recovery in the hotels business.