After 2:1 Bonus Issue, 70% Dividend Declared: Multibagger PSU BEL Declines 4%, Buy?

Navratna Multibagger PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd shares ended in red on BSE today to 188.85 apiece with intraday fall of 3.55%. The company after the market hours on March 15, 2024 declared second interim dividend of Re 0.70% (70%) per equity share of Re 1/- each for the financial year 2023-24. Bharat Electronics shares gained 104% in last 1-year and rallied 39% in last 6-months. Check details below:

Bharat Electronics Recommends 2nd Interim Dividend: According to the regulatory filing of BEL dated March 15, 2024, "In continuation to our earlier letter dated 7th March, 2024 we wish to inform you that Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 15th March, 2024, inter alia, has declared second interim dividend of Re 0.70/- (70%) per equity share of Re 1/- each fully paid-up for the financial year 2023-24. The second interim dividend will be paid within 30 days from the date of declaration."

BEL Sets Record Date For Interim Dividend: The Record date of 23th March, 2024 as intimated earlier continues to hold good for the purpose, added the BSE filing.

UBS Assigns Buy Call: Foreign brokerage firm UBS has upgraded target price of BEL share and assigned buy call. The global brokerage firm has assigned new target price of Rs 257 apiece from the previous Rs 205 per share amid rise in financial year 2024 orders. According to the analyst, ""We raise our target price to Rs 257 and maintain Buy, assigning a 35 times PE to March 2026 earnings (against 30 per cent earlier), building in a lower 10 per cent discount to industrial peers (against 25 per cent 10-year average), given better earnings/new orders momentum."

"Lastly, share of nomination business (where Bharat Electronics is assured fixed cost plus markup), which still accounts for a major share of BEL's revenues, remains crucial for its margin trajectory," added the analyst. Slower order book accretion became a vital worry for investors over the past two years. In its view, accretion (excess in orders booked over sales) of Rs 10,000 crore-plus in FY24E paves the way for an upward revision in top line against consensus estimates of 14% revenue growth each in FY25 and FY26, stated UBS.

Bharat Electronics Shares Performance & Return: The 52-week high price of Bharat Electronics shares on BSE is quoted at Rs 216.70 apiece and 52-week low price is quoted at Rs 89.68 apiece, respectively. The company has a market capitalisation of Rs 1,38,045.17 crore. BEL has a ROE of 24.75 and PE of 39.74. Its EPS (TTM) is 4.93. BEL share gained 176% in last 2-years, soared 313% in last 3-years, and offered return of 498% in last 5-years. BEL fell 12.33% in last 1-week and 8.15% in last 2-weeks.

Earlier this year on February 21, the PSU stated credit rating agency ICRA reaffirmed the its long-term rating at '[ICRA] AAA' with stable 'outlook'. ICRA also affirmed the company's short-term rating at ICRA] A1+.

Bharat Electronics Financials: BEL announced its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 at Rs 859.6 crore, up 40% as against Rs 613 crore announced in the similar quarter of last year. BEL's revenue remained nearly flat at Rs 4162.2 crore as against Rs 4153 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. EBITDA of BEL announced at Rs 1072.6 crore, up 24% as against Rs 863.4 crore in the same quarter of preceding fiscal. Meanwhile, margin arrived at 26%.

BEL Dividend History: BEL announced 50 dividends since August 27, 2001. In the last 12 months, Bharat Electronics announced an equity dividend amounting to Rs 1.90 per share. At the current share price of Rs 188.85, Bharat Electronics offers dividend yield at 1.01%.

BEL Bonus History: The last bonus that Bharat Electronics declared was in 2022 in the proportion of 2:1. The share traded ex-bonus on September 15, 2022. Before that BEL declared bonus shares in 2017 in the ratio of 1:10 and in 2015 in 2:1 ratio.

Bharat Electronics About: Established in 1954, BEL engages in manufacturing of specialised electronic equipment requirements of the Indian Defence Services. BEL produces a wide range of equipment for areas such as defence communication, radars, naval systems, c4i systems, weapon systems, homeland security, telecom & broadcast systems, electronic warfare, tank electronics, electro-optics, professional electronic components and solar photovoltaic systems, according to its official website.

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