1:10 Split, 3 Bonus: Defence PSU Stock Ex-Dividend For 70% Payout; Prabhudas Lilladher Recommends BUY

Navratna Defence PSU company, Bharat Electronics is going to trade ex-dividend on March 22 for its upcoming 70% dividend payout. On the ex-dividend date, Prabhudas Lilladher has recommended intraday buy for a target price of Rs 207 apiece. Ahead of the record date, BEL is closing the gap towards a 52-week high.

Bharat Electronics Share Price:

On the day of ex-dividend, in the opening bell, BEL shares edged up to hit an intraday high of Rs 196.85 apiece. Its market cap is over Rs 1.43 lakh crore.

Investors rushed for BEL stocks ahead of its upcoming dividend record date. On March 21, BEL shares rallied by 4.9% on BSE to Rs 196.65 apiece with a market cap of Rs 1,43,746.80 crore.

BEL is nearing its 52-week high and is also trading as a multibagger with an upside of a whopping 119% from its 52-week low of Rs 89.93 apiece.

The stock's upper and lower circuit levels are at Rs 216.30 apiece and Rs 177 apiece respectively.

Bharat Electronics Intraday Call:

On March 22, the day BEL shares will turn ex-dividend, leading brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher recommended to buy.

Shiju Koothupalakkal - Technical Analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher said BUY BEL at a price range of Rs 196.85 for a target price of Rs 207 with a stop loss of Rs 192.

Intraday calls generally mean buying and selling a listed stock on the same day. It is the shortest period of transacting in the stock market.

Also, overall, the 1-year average target price for BEL is at Rs 201, indicating a 2% upside ahead, as per Trendlyne data.

However, in the long-term, BEL has the potential for significant upside.

ICICI Direct is the latest to recommend buying BEL as the company's valuation at 28x P/E on an FY26E basis looks attractive considering the healthy growth. Also, the company has strong sectoral tailwinds coupled with consistency in terms of order inflows and execution.

Hence, ICICI Direct has set a target price of Rs 240.

Bharat Electronics Dividend:

BEL shares turned ex-dividend on March 22 for its second interim dividend of Rs 0.70/- (70%) per equity share of Rs 1/- each fully paid up for the financial year 2023-24.

The second interim dividend will be paid within 30 days from the date of declaration. While the record date has been fixed on March 23, 2024.

But since March 23 is a weekend, BEL will take into consideration those investors who hold its shares in their demat account by end of March 22, as eligible.

For the current financial year 2023-24, BEL previously paid its first interim dividend of also Rs 0.70 apiece or 70%. Meanwhile, in FY23, the payout was 180% amounting to Rs 1.8% per share.

On the current market price, BEL has a dividend yield of around 1%.

As per Trendlyne data, BEL has delivered up to 50 dividends since August 2001. Among other corporate affairs, BEL has also paid 3 bonuses and once carried a stock split for investors.

Bharat Electronics Stock Split And Bonus Issues:

BEL has carried only one stock split so far. It was in 2017, when 1 BEL share split into ten smaller shares effective from March 16. The face value split from Rs 10 to Rs 1. But, BEL is a bonus shares rewarder!

In a decade, BEL has paid three bonuses to its shareholders since 2015. The first bonus reward of a 2:1 ratio in September 2015, followed by 1:10 and 2:1 bonus issues in September 2017 and 2022 respectively.