Stock Recommendations Today: HUL, HDFC Bank, BPCL, Persistent Systems On Brokerages' Radar
NDTV Profit tracks what analysts are saying about various stocks and sectors. Here are the analyst calls to keep an eye out for on Thursday.

Brokerages have reacted to the third-quarter financial results of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Persistent Systems Ltd.
Analysts maintain Hindustan Unilever's ratings, however, cut the target price amid demand concerns. On the other hand, they remained positive on HDFC Bank.
BPCL also saw a cut in target price on the back of weak results.
NDTV Profit tracks what analysts are saying about various stocks and sectors. Here are the analyst calls to keep an eye out for on Thursday:
Brokerages On Hindustan Unilever
Macquarie
Maintain 'Outperform' rating and cut the target price to Rs 2,800 from Rs 3,250.
Third-quarter results are in-line but remain cautious on near-term outlook.
While cautious on near-term demand, Macquarie does not expect further deterioration beyond the flattish volumes observed in third quarter.
Positive on the tailwinds to the Beauty segment from the acquisition of the Minimalist brand.
The gradual pace of demand recovery leads to reductions in EPS and target price.
Believe the worst of the volume weakness is likely behind us.
UBS
Maintain 'Neutral' rating but cut the target price to Rs 2,700 from Rs 2,800.
Lackluster performance continues.
Revenue growth broadly in line, but weak product mix affects underlying volume growth.
Volume-led growth in home care, while price hikes impacted personal care.
Expect near-term demand to remain soft.
Goldman Sachs
Maintain 'Neutral' rating but cut the target price to Rs 2,480 from Rs 2,650.
Third-quarter results reflect a weak near-term growth outlook.
Urban slowdown has worsened, with downtrading to smaller packs underway.
Management lowers its near-term outlook to a "moderating consumption environment" from a "stable demand environment."
Soap volumes declined due to high price increases and grammage cuts.
Citi
Maintain 'Buy' rating but cut the target price to Rs 2,850 from Rs 3,400.
Tepid demand trends impact near-term growth outlook.
Acquisition of the active-based brand, Minimalist, could serve as an incremental growth driver.
Cut FY25-27E earnings estimates by 2-6% as we lower revenue growth assumptions.
Brokerages On HDFC Bank
Macquarie
Maintain 'Outperform' rating with a target price of Rs 2,300.
Third-quarter PAT in line with expectations; decent results despite a challenging macro environment.
Marginal increase in credit costs due to higher agri slippages.
Outperform rating supported by the potential for ROA improvement over the next two years, driven by NIM expansion.
BofA
Maintain 'Buy' rating with a target price of Rs 2,020.
Third-quarter results showed no surprises; LDR finish line likely just three quarters away.
More hits than misses in performance.
Asset quality performance provides a sigh of relief for the sector as a whole.
Bernstein
Maintain 'Outperform' rating with a target price of Rs 2,300, indicating an upside of 38%.
Reported a healthy set of numbers with results and commentary meeting expectations.
A strong quarter with signs of much better quarters ahead.
No signs of asset quality stress, which remains a concern for many peers.
Opex growth remained subdued and is likely to stay that way.
NIMs stayed within a tight range despite various headwinds.
Expect the bank to return to mid-teens EPS growth in financial year 2026.
Healthy NII growth despite slower loan growth.
PBT growth of 12% boosts confidence in a return to mid-teens EPS growth trajectory in the coming quarters.
Dolat
'Accumulate' rating with a target price of Rs 1,950, indicating an upside of 19%.
Reported in-line profitability metrics with sequentially stable NIM.
Credit costs at 50 bps and slippages at 1.4% were in line, and better than peers.
Tweaked earnings, factoring in lower growth and slightly improved opex.
Expect improvement in business growth to be a key trigger going forward.
Citi
Maintain 'Buy' rating with a target price of Rs 2,080.
Confident in credit quality and opex efficiency.
Management plans to step up growth when comfortable.
NIM contraction contained at 3bps quarter-on-quarter.
Management emphasised confidence in resilient quality and sounded more constructive about stepping up growth.
Brokerages On BPCL
Jefferies
Maintain 'Buy' rating but cut the target price to Rs 370 from Rs 410.
Ebitda was 11% below consensus due to weaker refining and marketing performance.
Refining outlook is more positive for 2025, with refinery closures likely to exceed demand growth.
Marketing margins have moderated but remain above normalised levels.
LPG losses are expected to continue, with relief from the government remaining uncertain.
Raise financial year 2025 earnings estimates based on elevated marketing margin run-rate.
Citi
Maintain 'Buy' rating with a target price of Rs 390.
Third-quarter performance not as strong as expected, but outlook remains positive and valuations are attractive.
Refining improved sequentially, though still below estimates.
Core marketing performance in line; inventory loss was a drag on results.
Brokerages On Persistent Systems
Nomura
Maintain 'Neutral' rating with a target price of Rs 6,200.
Third-quarter revenue broadly in line with expectations.
Resilient growth driven by strong execution.
Deal wins were decent; strong execution expected to support industry-leading growth.
Delivered on margin improvement promise.
Neutral on stock due to rich valuations.
Nuvama
Maintain 'Buy' rating and hike the target price to Rs 7,000 from Rs 6,350, offering a 24% upside.
Reported strong results in third quarter once again.
EBIT margin was boosted by a provision reversal.
Continues to lead the industry with 19.8% year-on-year growth in the quarter.
Financial year 2031 guidance requires an approximate 24% CAGR from financial year 2025–2031.
At 50x FY26E PE, the stock appears expensive, but this is justified given its healthy growth profile (25% earnings CAGR over FY24–27E).
Emkay
Upgrade to 'Reduce' rating with a target price of Rs 5,300, offering a downside of 6%.
Third quarter was slightly better than estimates.
Unlike in previous quarters, growth was broad-based.
Management remains confident about growth momentum.
However, moderating growth in TTM TCV/ACV raises some concerns.
Morgan Stanley On Sai Life Sciences
Initiate 'Overweight' rating with a target price of Rs 841.
Well positioned for growth, with Sai being one of India’s largest integrated CRDMOs.
Offers a one-stop solution for discovery, development, and manufacturing.
Distinctive onshore and offshore delivery platforms should enable above-industry growth.
Believe early investments in the platform will drive faster-than-peer growth, along with operating leverage gains.
Brokerages On Pidilite Industries
Macquarie
Maintain 'Underperform' rating with a target price of Rs 2,600.
Third-quarter Ebitda performance broadly in line with expectations.
Healthy volume-led growth across both consumer bazaar and business-to-business verticals.
Disappointed by the change in outlook commentary, shifting from optimistic to cautiously optimistic on demand.
Goldman Sachs
Maintain 'Buy' rating with a target price of Rs 3,560.
Accelerated volume and revenue growth despite a tough consumption environment.
Gross margin expansion offset by an increase in ad spends.
Brokerages On Polycab
Citi
Maintain 'Buy' rating with a target price of Rs 8,600.
Third-quarter results show strong margins while revenue growth of 20% year-on-year was 2% below Citi estimates.
Wires & Cables growth guidance is 1.5x the industry growth, as per the 5-year plan.
Polycab remains a top pick within the Consumer Durable/Electrical sector.
Macquarie
Maintain 'Outperform' rating with a target price of Rs 7,928.
C&W revenues grew 12%, and margin surprise drove an earnings beat.
FMEG segment saw strong growth of 43% on a low base, along with margin improvement.
Believe the worst of margin pressures is behind, with a gradual improvement expected in the coming quarters.
Strategic outlook suggests an approximately 15% revenue CAGR from financial year 2025-2030.
Citi On Go Digit General Insurance
Maintain 'Buy' rating but hike the target price to Rs 460 from Rs 450.
Solid earnings growth with further improvement in the underwriting to net earned premium ratio.
Fourth quarter net incurred claims ratio could surprise on the upside.
Employer-employee profitability improves, with growth contingent on competitive pressure.
Citi On Nuvama And CAMS
Initiate pair trade: Nuvama – 'Overweight' and CAMS – 'Underweight'
Why Positive on Nuvama
Nuvama’s wealth management businesses are likely to witness sustained momentum in fresh flows.
Deal pipeline in Investment Banking remains strong, providing better visibility on first half of calendar year 2025 revenue trajectory.
Asset servicing revenues are unlikely to decline – a key concern articulated by many investors.
Why Negative on CAMS
On the flip side, the resilience of retail MF flows is likely to be tested over the next few months amidst sustained weakness in equity markets.
Non-MF revenue growth for CAMS is likely to moderate as the pace of overall capital market activity moderates, raising concerns about the sustenance of current richness.
CLSA On Pharma Sector
Aurobindo Pharma – Upgrade to 'Outperform' from 'Hold' but cut the target price to Rs 1,400 from Rs 1,540
Growth Drivers: Commercialisation of Pen-G plant in 2025 and Vizag, China plant expansions, Launch of biosimilars from financial year 2026 and stable price erosion in US generics.
Dr Reddy's – Downgrade to 'Underperform' from 'Hold' and cut the target price to Rs 1,090 from Rs 1,140.
Expect earnings to decline at 10% CAGR over FY25-27 due to decline in margin in financial year 2027 led by gRevlimid expiry