Five stocks in the FMCG sector that investors should keep an eye on today!

As the market sentiment turned positive on the expectation of a war truce between Russia-Ukraine, as a result, the oil prices eased, and FMCG stocks are back in action. After gaining 0.6% in yesterday’s session, S&P BSE FMCG is trading at a gain of 0.8% at 13288 while Nifty FMCG is at 36095.50 with a gain of 0.7%.

Among the constituents of the FMCG sector, the stocks that have been in news are HUL, Tata Coffee, Tata Consumer Products, Emami and Ruchi Soya. Let us see why!

Hindustan Unilever: The company has said that its plant at Dapada in Dadra Nagar Haveli has become the first consumer goods factory in India to be recognized as an ‘Advanced 4th Industrial Revolution Lighthouse. Dapada factory manufactures home care products under the Surf excel, Rin, and Vim brands. The Global Lighthouse Network is a community of manufacturing sites recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for applying advanced technologies, innovations, and sustainable practices to modernise business operations, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. At 10:00 am HUL was trading at Rs 2030.35 up 0.74% or Rs 14.90 per share.

Tata Coffee: The stock was the biggest gainer among the constituents of S&P BSE FMCG in yesterday’s session after it rallied 9.3%. The run-up in the stock price was triggered by the announcement of the merger of all businesses of the company with Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) as part of a reorganisation plan in line with its strategic priority of unlocking synergies and efficiencies. In the morning trades Tata Coffee was trading at Rs 217.75, up 1.49% or Rs 3.2 per share.

Tata Consumer Products: In a bid to simplify and align its Indian and overseas business, the company’s board has approved the acquisition of 10.15% equity share capital of Tata Consumer Products UK Group Ltd, United Kingdom (an overseas subsidiary of the company from Tata Enterprises (Overseas) AG, Zug, Switzerland, which is a minority shareholder of TCPL UK, for a total consideration of Rs 570.8 crore. Following the news, the stock price has gained 3% in yesterday’s trades. In the morning trades Tata Consumer Products was trading at Rs 777.15, up 1.46% or Rs 11.2 per share.

Emami: The company announced its acquisition of the Dermicool brand driven by the motive to make the company market leader in the prickly heat and cool talc category. The company already owns the ‘Navratna’ brand under the segment. The acquisition has been made for a consideration of Rs 432 crore. The stock however picked up some momentum from its bottom levels in yesterday’s trade by rallying 3.3%. Today, at 10.00 am the stock is trading at 445.05 down 0.13% or Rs 0.6 per share.

Ruchi Soya: Patanjali Ayurved owned company’s board meets today to fix the issue price of its Rs 4,300 crore FPO (follow-on public offer). The meeting was rescheduled from March 29, on account of SEBI's direction to allow withdrawal of investors' bids till Wednesday. The follow-on offer had managed to garner 3.6 times subscription. While it saw strong demand in most other categories, it was undersubscribed in the retail category at 90%. The move by SEBI was triggered by the instances of unsolicited messages being sent to Patanjali‘s users to invest in the said offer luring the users to grab a “good investment opportunity”. With the price band for the FPO set at Rs 615-650 per share which is at a 37-33% discount to its last traded price of Rs 979.10, the stock will be on the investor’s radar. Today, at 10:00 am the stock is trading at 957.55 down2.03% or 19.85 per share.