Shares of cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate ITC Ltd continued their northward movement, rising up to 3 percent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 428 apiece on the BSE in Friday's trading session on expectations of strong earnings.

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The stock of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to hotel major has jumped nearly 28 percent on a year-to-date basis, while in the last one year, it rose 64 percent.

ITC, which is one of the largest diversified players in India, is now the sixth most-valued listed company in terms of market capitalisation or market cap.

So far in this calendar year, ITC has jumped seven positions following a sharp rally in the stock price of the firm. ITC surpassed Infosys, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), State Bank of India (SBI), Bharti Airtel, Adani Enterprises and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in the m-cap ranking.

Analysts remain bullish on stock

The index heavyweight has been one of the top performers on the Street. Analysts remain bullish on the stock while maintaining their 'Buy' stance.

Domestic brokerage house Prabhudas Lilladher has an 'accumulate' rating on the ITC stock with a target price of Rs 444, suggesting a further upside of 13 percent. Prabhudas Lilladher sees ITC among the best performers from the consumer space in the March 2023 quarter.

ITC has an average broker target of Rs 414.77 apiece, suggesting a potential downside of 2.53 percent, according to data from Trendlyne.

"The hotel business may benefit from the company's focus on management contracts, which should improve return ratios and signal value unlocks to investors. The paperboard and agribusinesses are also expected to perform well, driven by factors such as raw material cost corrections and government policies. Overall, ITC's upward trajectory and strong performance in key businesses like cigarettes and FMCG indicate a bright future for the company," said Sonam Srivastava, founder at Wright Research, on ITC's numbers.

ITC dividend payout

ITC has declared 25 dividends since July 3, 2001. In the last one year, ITC has declared an equity dividend amounting to Rs 12.25 per share.

On the daily chart from September last year to January this year, the share price has moved in a range of 318 to 356 odd levels. Volumes were quite low during this period.

The stock of ITC is expected to see further upside from here. The RSI Oscillator is moving in an upward trend along with an increase in volume, indicating further upside from here.