KEI Industries Limited

Industrials — Electrical Equipment & Parts · NSE

₹4,482.30−₹88.90 (−1.94%)

DalalBaazaar Score

58 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

CAUTION

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, negative free cash flow.

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, 7:02 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

KEI Industries Limited manufactures, markets, and sells wires and cables in India and internationally. It operates in three segments: Cable & Wires; Engineering, Procurement and Construction; Stainless Steel Wire; and Other.

IndustryElectrical Equipment & Parts

SectorIndustrials

Employees2,197

Annual revenue₹11,574 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹11,574 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹8 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹12 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,197 employees supports ₹5.27 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹5.27 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are SIEMENS LTD, ABB INDIA LIMITED, HAVELLS 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 18.7% 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 ROE17.1%

What is the outlook?

14 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 20.3% and earnings to grow about 19.1% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+20.3%

Est. earnings growth+19.1%

Analysts14

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 +69% while net margin moved +14% 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+69%

Margin effect+14%

DalalBaazaar Score

58/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ P/E of 43.0x is demanding — it needs sustained high growth to justify
✓ P/E is 28% below its own historical median of 59.8x — cheap by its own standards
✗ P/B of 6.43x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

61/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

57/ 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

43.0x

3Y Median

59.8x

40 monthly readings · mean 60.0x · range 45.0x–83.6x

Sector Median

88.8x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 28% below its 3y median of 59.8x. 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 52% below the peer median of 88.8x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

59.8x median over 40 months · -28%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

88.8x median of 3 peers · -52%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

30.4x

PEG

1.76

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well1

Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention2

Return on equity is falling
ROE has dropped from 18.4% to 13.8% — each rupee of shareholder capital earns less than it did.
Return on capital is falling
ROCE has declined from 25.1% to 18.7% — often a sign of competition or overexpansion.

Red Flags

4 items require attention · 2 high · 2 watch

🔴Debt has risen sharplyFinancial
Total debt is up 56% over 3 years, from ₹162 Cr to ₹253 Cr.
🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 3.80x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.
🟡Free cash flow is negativeFinancial
Free cash flow was -₹414 Cr in the latest year.
🟡Inventory building faster than salesFinancial
Inventory up 118% against revenue up 69% — stock may not be moving.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Capital compounds at a high rate
ROCE of 18.7% means each rupee reinvested earns well above what capital costs. If the company can keep deploying at this rate, growth creates value rather than just consuming cash.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 28% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 52% 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 3.80x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Returns on shareholder capital are falling
ROE has dropped from 18.4% to 13.8%. 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

1Revenue growth stays above 14% a year✓ 19.1% CAGR
Latest reported year was 23.0%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 10%✓ 11.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✗ -₹414 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 16%✓ 18.7%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

6 / 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

4 good · 3 neutral · 4 weak

Market Cap

₹42,871 Cr

Mid Cap

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

P/E (Trailing)

43.0x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

6.43x

Rich

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

EPS (TTM)

₹104.21

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

13.8%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

18.7%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

3.80x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

23.0%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

40.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.10%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

-₹414 Cr

Cash burning

Spending more cash than the operations bring in

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

30.6x

Improving

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

Operating Margin

11.5%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

8.1%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.96

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.62

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

35%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

4591.1 / 5022.6

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

40.1

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹6,853 Cr	₹8,038 Cr	₹9,608 Cr	₹11,574 Cr	+19.1%
EBITDA	₹729 Cr	₹873 Cr	₹1,053 Cr	₹1,383 Cr	+23.8%
EBITDA Margin	10.6%	10.9%	11.0%	11.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹477 Cr	₹581 Cr	₹696 Cr	₹918 Cr	+24.4%
EPS	₹52.86	₹64.25	₹75.55	₹96.02	+22.0%
ROE	18.4%	18.4%	12.0%	13.8%	—
ROCE	25.1%	25.2%	16.7%	18.7%	—
Total Debt	₹162 Cr	₹166 Cr	₹217 Cr	₹253 Cr	+16.1%
Free Cash Flow	₹416 Cr	₹210 Cr	-₹730 Cr	-₹414 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 19.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 23.8% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 10.6% to 11.9% over 3 years (+1.3 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 24.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 22.0% a year over 3 years.

🔴 ROE has fallen from 18.4% to 13.8% over 3 years (-4.7 pts).

🔴 ROCE has fallen from 25.1% to 18.7% over 3 years (-6.4 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 16.1% a year over 3 years.

🔴 Free Cash Flow has turned negative, from ₹416 Cr to -₹414 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹8,956 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹2,291 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹1,047 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹840 Cr

Capex

-₹1,254 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

44.3%

Insider Holding

36.0%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

21 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹4.5

Ex-Dividend Date

28 Jan 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

11 Buy · 9 Hold · 1 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹5,661.22

+26.3% vs CMP

Target Range

₹4,400 – ₹6,600

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
SIEMENS LTD	88.8x	10.5%
ABB INDIA LIMITED	92.6x	19.1%
HAVELLS INDIA LIMITED	43.5x	17.1%

Recent News

5 mixed1 general

KEI Industries Share Price

Upstox, 16 Oct

Q1 beat drives KEI Industries shares 7% higher; JM Fin sees 15% upside

Business Standard, 04 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.

KEI Industries Share Price rises 2.15%: valuation review

Univest, 18 SeptPrice 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.

KEI Industries shares up 5% as Q1 profit jumps 40%; board approves ₹700cr capacity expansion

Moneycontrol.com, 04 AugCapacity

🟡Mixed / dependsCapacity additions can raise revenue over two to three years, but the capital spend usually pressures free cash flow first. Worth checking whether the capex is funded from operations or from borrowing.

Results: KEI Industries Limited Exceeded Expectations And The Consensus Has Updated Its Estimates

Simply Wall Street, 06 AugResults

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

Jefferies cuts KEI Industries target price by 11%. Will UltraTech’s entry put the company at risk?

The Economic Times, 11 SeptAnalyst view

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

Watch Items

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

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongGrowth

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Financial Health · 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.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Free cash flow remains positive · see Key things to watch ↑