HUL is an example of a great business. It has a portfolio of famous FMCG brands that every Indian uses atleast once a day. Who wouldn’t recognize Lux, Lifebouy, Kissan, Rin, Surf, Axe, Close Up, Dove, Fair & Lovely, Sunsilk or other HUL brands? With Indian growth driven primarily by domestic consumption, there is no question whether HUL, with all its powerful brands, is well positioned to take advantage of this growth or not. Even respected stock research houses are claiming that ‘HUL is on a path of sustainable growth with the help of its powerful & diversified brands and thus they maintain a Buy rating on the Stock once again.’
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| HUL – A good buy? |
But we beg to differ from everyone here. We are not convinced that HUL is a good BUY at this price. With HUL at Rs 530, there are some facts which suggest that it may not be the best time to buy this stock:
- HUL is commanding a P/Emultiple of 50. This is highest multiple it has ever commanded. FMCG companies generally trade at high PE multiples. But a PE=50, doesn’t seem sustainable.
- With a 3 year growth rate of 4.63% in Sales & 2.02% in Profits, a P/E of 50 does seem irrational.
- If we check HUL’s PEG Ratio with Current PE=50 & G=15% (though past records stands at less than 5%), we get a PEG=3.33. And a stock having PEG>1 is considered to be overvalued.
- Another way of looking at PE=50 is that investors expect HUL to grow at 50% per year in future. And common sense says that this is insane. With a company of HUL’s size, a 50% growth rate is like Elephant running at 300kmph!! 🙂
So what are your views?
Disclosures: No Positions in HUL. But if we had already purchased HUL years ago and had big capital gains built into the stock, we wouldn’t sell it even if it was overvalued. This is because we believe in power of doing nothing in stock markets. 🙂
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