Stock Picks Today: Hyundai, Patanjali, Shree Cement, Vishal Mega Mart, L&T On Brokerages' Radar

Shree Cement Ltd., Patanjali Foods Ltd., Vishal Mega Mart Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Hyundai Motor India Ltd., and AU Small Finance Bank Ltd., are among the companies garnering brokerage commentary today.

Analysts have shared their insights and, in several cases, revised their target prices based on their updated fundamental outlooks for these firms. Here are the key analyst calls to watch out for today:

MOSL

• Maintain buy with target price of Rs 875

• Earnings to accelerate from 2H; risk-reward favorable

• Estimate loan CAGR to be sustained at 24% over FY26-28

• Growth outlook steady; Deposit mobilization to continue at a healthy pace

• Cost of funds to ease gradually; NIM likely to recover from Q3

• Cost ratios to remain in control after the recent improvements

Citi

• Maintain buy with target price of Rs 35,500

• Cement demand has been weak in H1FY26 with early monsoons and anticipation of the cut in GST

• Management is optimistic of a recovery in H2

• Possible increase in private capex with a broader boost to consumption post the GST cuts should also be positive

• Any cuts to spending on infrastructure by the government should be monitored

• Long-term demand outlook is intact and per capital cement consumption is far away from the peak

Jefferies

• Maintain Buy with target price of Rs 175

• Vishal Mega Mart offers superior products at affordable prices on the back of scale

• Despite soft industry demand environment, the company has been able to drive double digit SSSG

• Visibility remains high on >80 store adds p.a.

• Pilot is underway for smaller formats in <50k towns

• Maintains leadership in entry-level price points, with a high-quality private-label portfolio

Nomura

• Maintain buy with target price of Rs 2,846

• Implications for India from Hyundai Motor Global investor day

• Hyundai Motor India volumes to grow at 9% CAGR over CY25-30E; may need to raise capacity

• Strong model pipeline with multiple launches ahead

• Advancing hybrid and EV tech along with software

• Strong model cycle and rising exports to drive earnings

Jefferies

• Hosted 23 financials at Jefferies India Forum

• Lenders expect a pickup post GST cut and festive spending

• Banks see stable/ improving asset quality and medium-term benefits from rate cuts and easier competition

• NBFCs see subdued growth and asset quality in Q2, but expect better trends in H2

• NIMs should expand Q2 onwards

• Life Insurance see the near-term impact of GST exemption but don't see risk to FY27-28

• Among fin-techs, Paytm sees operational efficiencies to aid earnings

Jefferies

• Hosted 8 NBFCs at Jefferies India Forum 2025

• Most expect subdued growth and asset quality trends in 2Q

• Optimistic on better trends in H2 due to GST cut and favorable seasonality

• NIMs should expand Q2 onward due to lower rates

• Could cushion drag from higher credit costs

• Chola Finance expects 20-22% AUM growth, better NIMs, and 1.5-1.6% of credit cost in FY26

• Shriram Finance expects growth to hold up at 15-16% and sees credit cost <2.2% in FY26

Jefferies

• Jefferies Economic Indicator for Aug'25 shows activity levels were slightly below the 6-month average.

• A disappointment considering the low base of last year

• Impact of GST rate cut announcement and US tariffs likely moderated broad based indicators such as energy demand

• Consumption data was also weak

• Rural economy and infra indicators did relatively better

• Impact of GST cuts to potentially impact Sep activity also, but strong pickup expected in Oct.

Jefferies

• Maintain buy; Hike target price to Rs 695 from Rs 670

• Company expects a gradual recovery through FY26 as headwinds in the edible oil and food business normalise

• With GST rate cuts in Patanjali's large categories, mgmt. expects demand trends to improve in H2

• Near-term could see some de-stocking

• Palm Plantation business remains on a steady ramp-up trajectory

Jefferies

• Container volumes holding up, for now

• Major Port container cargo rose 4% YoY in Aug 2025, driving 5% YoY rise in Indian Railways (IR) container volumes

• Q2FY26E till date, IR volume growth at 7% YoY is marginally ahead of estimates for ConCor

• Front-loading of cargo ahead of the US tariffs and festive buying have supported volumes

• Sustainable growth from Oct 2025 holds key

• Adani Ports and JSW Infra are top picks

JP Morgan

• Maintain overweight with target price of Rs 4,240

• L&T continues to benefit from infrastructure spending by central, state and PSU entities

• In the Middle East, L&T is capitalizing on sustained oil and gas capex

• Expanding into high-growth sectors and new geographies

• Strategic use of capital drives efficiency and future investments

• Strong financial performance and improving returns

• Bullish long-term outlook anchored by India’s economic growth and L&T’s execution strength

Anand Rathi

• Initiate buy with target price of Rs 1,510

• Capacity expansion, higher stainless-steel demand – growth catalysts

• Value-accretive diversification is expected to generate Rs 300 crore revenue yearly with an 8-10% EBITDA margin

• >80% of demand for ferro-chrome, a key ingredient in stainless steel production, is driven by the industry

• Demand in India for ferrochrome is expected to rise further as stainless steel consumption grows