{"id":326155,"date":"2023-12-20T12:46:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T04:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinoyinvestor.com\/smartinvestor\/?p=326155"},"modified":"2023-12-20T12:46:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T04:46:20","slug":"stock-in-focus-universal-robina-corp-urc-20-dec-2023-by-rcbc-securities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinoyinvestor.com\/smartinvestor\/stock-in-focus-universal-robina-corp-urc-20-dec-2023-by-rcbc-securities\/","title":{"rendered":"Stock in Focus: Universal Robina Corp. (URC) – 20 Dec 2023 by RCBC Securities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary of Broker’s Recommendation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Stock Code<\/strong><\/td>URC<\/td><\/tr>
Company Name<\/strong><\/td>Universal Robina Corp.<\/td><\/tr>
Broker<\/strong><\/td>RCBC Securities<\/td><\/tr>
Opinion Issued on<\/strong><\/td>20 Dec 2023<\/td><\/tr>
Recommendation<\/strong><\/td>Buy<\/td><\/tr>
1-Year Target Price<\/strong><\/td>PHP 145.00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We retain our target price (TP) for URC of Php145.00\/share as we believe that it will deliver a strong 4th quarter (4Q) 2023 performance as holiday spending ramps up and on a more optimistic outlook for the following year. URC is also trading cheaply at a Price-Earnings (P\/E) ratio of 19.7x, which is below its 5-year historical P\/E of 26.7x and lower than its closest peers average P\/E of 21.3x. With a share price upside of 23.0% and dividend yield of 3.1%, the potential total return of 26.1% is still attractive. We recommend a BUY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Analysis and Opinion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

2024 outlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We expect Universal Robina Corp. (URC) to deliver better performance for 2024 in light of a more favourable macroeconomic environment. Despite the challenging 2023, URC is still on track to increase its core net income by 10% for the year and we expect a 14% growth for URC\u2019s bottomline in 2024 as the impact of inflation eases on consumer spending as well as commodity costs and various expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bracing for impact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We are taking into consideration the possible impact of additional excise taxes on URC\u2019s bottomline as the government eyes to implement an increase in the current excise taxes on sweetened beverages and introduce a new tax program on salty foods as early as 2024, though we believe that URC will be able to weather this as the firm may be able to implement various cost-saving strategies to mitigate its effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check how many brokers recommend this stock<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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All Stock Rankings<\/a><\/blockquote>