ICICI Lombard shares jump 5% after Q4 beat. Should you buy, sell or hold?

GDPI of the company was approximately Rs 6000 crore in Q4FY24 as against Rs 4977 crore for the same period last year, which denotes a growth of 22%.

The Board of Directors also proposed a final dividend of Rs 6 per share for FY24. The payment is subject to the approval of shareholders and the overall dividend for FY24, including the proposed final dividend would be Rs 11 per share.

Solvency ratio was 2.62x at March 31, 2024 as against 2.57x at December 31, 2023 and higher than the minimum regulatory requirement of 1.50x.

Here’s what brokerages say on Q4 results:

ICICI Securities

Near 20% underlying PAT growth in FY24 and upgraded combined operating ratio outlook reiterate the improving business cycle; ICICI Lombard General Insurance looks well placed to accrue benefits from the same. The brokerage firm has maintained a ‘buy’ stance on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,901.

Motilal Oswal

ICICI Lombard's (ICICIGI) investment income meeting expectations, combined ratio at 102.2% vs. the estimated 104.3%, PAT growing 19% YoY, improved combined ratio guidance to 101.5% for FY25 and the management optimistic about market share gains in motor and retail health segments with supportive industry trends. With this view in sight, Motilal maintained its ‘buy’ call for the company with a target of Rs 2,100, an upside potential of 35 times the closing price on Tuesday.

HSBC

HSBC maintained a buy rating on ICICI Lombard with a target price of Rs 1990. Strong premium growth was seen in Q4. Market share gains and sharp improvement in combined ratio (CoR) were key positives.

The management remained optimistic about growth and combined ratio (CoR) guidance on the back of improvement in pricing discipline in the market.

Kotak Institutional Equities

has fared well as per the brokerage firm, due to a combination of better pricing environment and better risk management. While near-term profitability improvement may be visible, the broker expects a growth aggression to keep medium-term profitability rangebound. Hence the firm revised their estimates by 3-4%, to retain a ‘reduce’ call, with the target price of Rs 1,550 from an earlier Rs1,475.

Also read:

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)