Is it a good idea to buy Hindustan Unilever after the June quarter results and what should be the price target to look at?

Hindustan Unilever has been under some stress in the last few weeks in the market due to fears that the consumption slowdown could hit the stock performance. However, if you look at the June quarter results, the company has done OK on the top line but extremely well on the bottom line. For the June quarter, HUVR reported 14.5% growth in consolidated net profits to Rs.1792 crore and a 6% growth in sales revenues at Rs.10,509 crore. While volumes in the domestic market grew at 5%, there was also support from better pricing power.

If you were to break up the verticals, the homecare and the food business grew at closer to 10% but the beauty and personal care segment showed flat growth and this segment accounts for nearly 45% of total sales of HUVR. The company has also improved its operating margins by nearly 300 bps and that should be positive for the stock price. The stock has corrected nearly Rs.170 from the peak and that should give a margin of safety for the stock. You can certainly look to buy the stock at current levels with a long term price target of Rs.2000 plus.