Astral Limited

Industrials — Building Products & Equipment · NSE

₹1,427.40−₹15.90 (−1.10%)

DalalBaazaar Score

53 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:46 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of Astral Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Astral Limited engages in the manufacture and marketing of pipes and fittings, water tanks, and adhesives and sealants in India and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Plumbing, and Paints and Adhesives.

IndustryBuilding Products & Equipment

SectorIndustrials

Employees4,899

Annual revenue₹6,554 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹6,554 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹8 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹16 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 4,899 employees supports ₹1.34 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹1.34 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD., SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 17.6% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

Peer median ROE15.2%

What is the outlook?

28 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 14.5% and earnings to grow about 25.1% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+14.5%

Est. earnings growth+25.1%

Analysts28

What has been driving growth?

Growth has come mainly from selling more, rather than from keeping more of each sale. Over 3 years revenue moved +27% while net margin moved -8% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+27%

Margin effect-8%

DalalBaazaar Score

53/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ P/E of 66.6x is demanding — it needs sustained high growth to justify
• P/E is close to its own historical median of 80.9x
✗ P/B of 9.45x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

56/ 100

Average

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

46/ 100

Fair

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

66.6x

3Y Median

80.9x

40 monthly readings · mean 88.9x · range 63.7x–140.0x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 18% below its 3y median of 80.9x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

🟢Against its sector it trades 25% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Fair

80.9x median over 40 months · -18%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -25%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

36.1x

PEG

12.05

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well2

Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 168% over 3 years.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 16.8% to 13.2% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 20.7% to 17.6% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 2 high

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 187% over 3 years, from ₹87 Cr to ₹250 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 6.17x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Cheaper than its peers
It trades 25% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 6.17x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 16.8% to 13.2%. Each rupee of equity earns less than it did, so profit growth increasingly depends on raising more capital rather than on the existing base working harder.
Several serious flags at once
2 high-severity checks triggered. Individually each has an explanation; together they raise the chance that something structural is wrong rather than a one-off.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 14%✓ 15.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 6% a year✓ 8.4% CAGR
Latest reported year was 15.9%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹658 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 15%✓ 17.6%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 12 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✓ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✗ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✗ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✗ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

5 good · 3 neutral · 3 weak

Market Cap

₹38,347 Cr

Mid Cap

Mid-sized — more growth headroom, but sharper swings than large caps

P/E (Trailing)

66.6x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

9.45x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹21.43

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.2%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

17.6%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

6.17x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

15.9%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

48.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.28%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹658 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

42.3x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

9.9%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

8.5%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.76

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.20

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

25%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

1402.6 / 1454.9

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

56.5

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹5,145 Cr	₹5,629 Cr	₹5,819 Cr	₹6,554 Cr	+8.4%
EBITDA	₹801 Cr	₹935 Cr	₹951 Cr	₹1,045 Cr	+9.3%
EBITDA Margin	15.6%	16.6%	16.3%	15.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹457 Cr	₹546 Cr	₹524 Cr	₹537 Cr	+5.5%
EPS	₹17	₹20.33	₹19.5	₹19.97	+5.5%
ROE	16.8%	17.1%	14.5%	13.2%	—
ROCE	20.7%	22.4%	18.7%	17.6%	—
Total Debt	₹87 Cr	₹119 Cr	₹233 Cr	₹250 Cr	+42.2%
Free Cash Flow	₹246 Cr	₹270 Cr	₹85 Cr	₹658 Cr	+38.8%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 8.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 9.3% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 15.9% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 5.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 5.5% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 16.8% to 13.2% over 3 years (-3.6 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 20.7% to 17.6% over 3 years (-3.1 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 42.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 38.8% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹5,812 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹1,754 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹890 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1,117 Cr

Capex

-₹459 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

29.3%

Insider Holding

54.3%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

11 Nov 2026

Dividend Rate

₹4

Ex-Dividend Date

14 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

24 Buy · 3 Hold · 2 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹1,741.1

+22.0% vs CMP

Target Range

₹1,450 – ₹1,965

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
LARSEN & TOUBRO LTD.	30.1x	15.2%
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%

Recent News

1 positive4 mixed1 general

Astral (NSEI:ASTRAL) Stock Forecast & Analyst Predictions

Simply Wall Street, 14 OctAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

Astral shares rally 9% as Q1 profit soars 48% YoY; here’s what analysts at CITI, UBS, CLSA said

Upstox, 13 AugPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Astral Ltd. Share Price Rise Streak and Valuation Snapshot

Univest, 07 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Astral shares rally 10% following Q1 results; Citi sees target price at Rs 1,900, Nuvama upgrades stock to

The Economic Times, 13 AugAnalyst view

🟢Potentially positiveAn analyst opinion changing, which moves the price without changing the business.

Trade Spotlight: How should you trade Astral, Tega Industries, Indus Towers, Aadhar Housing Finance,...

Moneycontrol.com, 16 Oct

Astral jumps 9.5% as strong pipe performance drives Q1 PAT 52% higher

Business Standard, 13 AugResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Risk

WeakValuation

Points for each in the Score ↑

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you. 2 high-severity red flags sit above this conclusion and should be read first.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑