The shares of State-run oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) hit fresh highs on Thursday on the back of strong Q4 results and approval of dividend by the Board.

At 10:52 am, BPCL was trading at ₹475.35 on the BSE, up ₹4.05 or 0.86 per cent. It opened at a new 52-week high of ₹488.00 as against the previous close of ₹471.30. It hit an intraday low of ₹474.10.

On the NSE, it was trading at ₹475.35, up ₹3.15 or 0.67 per cent. It hit a 52-week high of ₹488.00.

BPCL posted a net profit of ₹11,940.13 crore in the January-March quarter from a loss of ₹1,361.01 crore a year earlier, the growth led by a one-time gain of ₹6,992.95 crore from the sale of entire stake in Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL).

The company has also declared a final dividend of ₹58 per share, including a one-time special dividend of ₹35 per equity share.

Brokerages are also optimistic on the privatisation-bound OMC.

ICICI Securities maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a target price of ₹544.

“We have kept FY22E EPS and the target price unchanged despite FY22-TD net marketing margin and GRM being well below our FY22 estimates. We are optimistic that the price hike required to boost net margin to our FY22 estimate of ₹2.5/l would be made given the government’s track record,” it said.

“Recovery in diesel cracks is key to GRM recovery. BPCL is our top pick among OMCs as we are more confident of gains from privatisation than marketing margin and GRM recovery, on which peers’ fortunes are more dependent,” it added.

Motilal Oswal Research has also maintained a Buy rating on the stock.

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