Fiery liquor maker Wuliangye rises to record after Citic Securities raises price target
- Citic Securities set a share-price estimate of 156 yuan for Wuliangye, the nation’s second-biggest liquor producer after Kweichow Moutai in market value
Wuliangye Yibin, China’s second most valuable fiery liquor distiller, rose to a record in Shenzhen after Citic Securities set the most bullish share-price estimate for the stocks.
Shares of Wuliangye, whose Chinese name means liquor distilled from five types of grains, climbed 1.2 per cent to 133.92 yuan at the close on Wednesday, the highest since the Sichuan province-based company went public two decades ago. Wuliangye is valued at 519.8 billion yuan (US$72.6 billion), placing it behind brand leader Kweichow Moutai with a market cap of 1.38 trillion yuan.
The gain came after Citic Securities, China’s biggest publicly traded brokerage, raised the price target of the stocks by 25 per cent to 156 yuan in a research note, citing a management reshuffle that will sharpen its competitive edge.
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It was the boldest estimate among the major securities firms and investment banks. Goldman Sachs has a price target of 140.73 yuan, while China International Capital Corp’s is 140 yuan. The 17 analysts that cover Wuliangye have a consensus 12-month price target of 125.85 yuan, according to Bloomberg data.
Wuliangye and other Chinese consumer stocks have been benefiting from increased foreign inflows into the country and consumption upgrade – people buying more upscale products. Global index provider MSCI lifted the weighting of mainland Chinese stocks in its emerging-market gauge for a second time this year starting on Wednesday.
Swiss bank UBS Group predicted this would attract US$4.5 billion of inflows from passively managed global funds.
Kweichow Moutai finished at 1,100.11 yuan in Shanghai, within 3 per cent short of its record close set last week. Citic Securities has a price target of 1,200 yuan for the stock.
Wuliangye’s shares have outperformed Kweichow Moutai’s this year, rising 163 per cent, almost double that of its main rival.
Wuliangye probably posted a 25 per cent increase in second-quarter earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compared with a 30 per cent growth for the previous three-month period. The earnings result is due on Saturday.
Citic Securities also raised Wuliangye’s per-share earnings forecast for this year by 4.2 per cent to 4.49 yuan and that for 2020 by 7.8 per cent to 5.55 yuan in the report.
