Hold Maruti Suzuki; target of Rs 5340: Centrum

MSIL reported a stellar 2QFY17 with PAT at Rs 23.9 bn (+95% YoY/ +61% QoQ). Decade high EBITDA Margin at 17% came in 180bps ahead of our estimates, helped by lower raw material, employee and other costs (marginally negated by lower operating other income). MSIL remains one of the best placed companies to leverage the opportunity in domestic PV segment given a) best in class network, b) best in class product range, c) understanding of Indian consumers, d) traction of recent launches and e) history of coming out big products which have defined new segments (Dzire, Ertiga etc). However current valuations leave us with limited upside in near term. Consequently we maintain our hold rating on the stock with revised target price of Rs 5,340 (21x FY18E EPS). While we continue to like MSIL for its robust business model (improving sales mix, higher cash flow generation, lower capex and higher payout), we see limited upside from current levels in near-medium term, given the current valuations (trading at 26xFY17E PER/ 23xFY18E PER). Consequently we maintain our hold rating on the stock with revised target price of Rs 5,340 (21x FY18E EPS).