The Ramco Cements Limited

Basic Materials — Building Materials · NSE

₹807.50+₹20.60 (+2.62%)

DalalBaazaar Score

59 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Moderate

Driven by short-term liabilities exceed short-term assets, small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings, falling profits.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, though profits are falling even as sales grow. Short-term liquidity is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:49 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

The Ramco Cements Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cement and cement-related products in India and internationally.

IndustryBuilding Materials

SectorBasic Materials

Employees3,890

Annual revenue₹8,947 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹8,947 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹8 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹15 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 3,890 employees supports ₹2.30 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

Revenue / employee₹2.30 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED, GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD, AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD, SHREE CEMENT 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?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 9.6% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.

Peer median ROE7.4%

What is the outlook?

20 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 11.2% and earnings to grow about 107.7% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+11.2%

Est. earnings growth+107.7%

Analysts20

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +10% while net margin moved +102% 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+10%

Margin effect+102%

DalalBaazaar Score

59/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✓ Beta of 0.10 — historically steadier than the index
✗ Small Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

60/ 100

Average

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

Valuation

67/ 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

29.6x

3Y Median

64.4x

40 monthly readings · mean 66.2x · range 27.2x–98.0x

Sector Median

36.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 54% below its 3y median of 64.4x. 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 18% below the peer median of 36.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

64.4x median over 40 months · -54%

vs. sector peers

Fair

36.2x median of 4 peers · -18%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

EV/EBITDA

16.9x

PEG

0.97

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 14% over 3 years.
Cash flow has turned positive
Free cash flow moved from negative to positive over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 4.6% to 8.6%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 5.9% to 9.6%.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

2 items require attention · 1 high · 1 watch

🔴Receivables growing faster than salesFinancial
Receivables up 70% against revenue up 10% — sales are being booked faster than they are collected.
🟡Short-term liquidity is tightFinancial
Current ratio of 0.54 — near-term obligations exceed near-term assets.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 54% 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.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹614 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
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?

Sales are being booked faster than collected
Receivables are up 70% against revenue up 10%. If customers keep taking longer to pay, reported profit will not turn into cash — and write-offs follow if some never do.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 3.3% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
Size brings its own risk
Small Cap businesses are thinly traded, so exits are harder in a falling market and single events move the price more than they would for a larger company.

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

1EBITDA margin holds above 13%✓ 15.1%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.9x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
3Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.9x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
4Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 3.3% CAGR
Latest reported year was 9.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹614 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

Investment Checklist

5 / 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

3 good · 7 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹19,081 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

29.6x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

2.36x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹27.28

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

8.6%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

9.6%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.48x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

9.6%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

-63.3%

Falling

Profits are shrinking

Dividend Yield

0.31%

Modest

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

Free Cash Flow

₹614 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

31.4x

Flat

At or above the trailing multiple — no earnings uplift is being priced in

Operating Margin

5.1%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

7.0%

Average

Average bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

0.54

Tight

Tight short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.10

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

839.9 / 873.7

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

28.7

Oversold zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹8,122 Cr	₹9,349 Cr	₹8,492 Cr	₹8,947 Cr	+3.3%
EBITDA	₹1,187 Cr	₹1,510 Cr	₹1,158 Cr	₹1,348 Cr	+4.3%
EBITDA Margin	14.6%	16.2%	13.6%	15.1%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹315 Cr	₹360 Cr	₹273 Cr	₹699 Cr	+30.5%
EPS	₹13.76	₹15.77	₹11.53	₹29.56	+29.0%
ROE	4.6%	5.0%	3.7%	8.6%	—
ROCE	5.9%	7.1%	5.5%	9.6%	—
Total Debt	₹4,507 Cr	₹4,937 Cr	₹4,675 Cr	₹3,871 Cr	-4.9%
Free Cash Flow	-₹354 Cr	-₹24 Cr	₹375 Cr	₹614 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 3.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 4.3% a year over 3 years.

🟡 EBITDA Margin has held roughly flat at 15.1% over 3 years.

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 30.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 29.0% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 4.6% to 8.6% over 3 years (+4.0 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 5.9% to 9.6% over 3 years (+3.6 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 4.9% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has turned positive, from -₹354 Cr to ₹614 Cr.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹16,636 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹8,542 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹187 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹1,611 Cr

Capex

-₹997 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

31.0%

Insider Holding

49.1%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

04 Nov 2026

Dividend Rate

₹2.5

Ex-Dividend Date

13 Aug 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

10 Buy · 10 Hold · 11 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹947

+17.3% vs CMP

Target Range

₹659 – ₹1,276

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED	37.6x	11.1%
GRASIM INDUSTRIES LTD	34.8x	5.5%
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD	20.4x	7.4%
SHREE CEMENT LIMITED	49.7x	7.0%

Recent News

2 mixed4 general

The Ramco Cements Share Price - Live NSE: RAMCOCEM Stock Price & Chart

Upstox, 16 Oct

The Ramco Cements (RAMCOCEM) 52 Week Low Streak Extends To Sixth Session

Univest, 16 Oct

Ramco Cements (NSEI:RAMCOCEM) Stock Forecast & Analyst Predictions

Simply Wall Street, 11 OctAnalyst view

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

The Ramco Cements Ltd Falls to 52-Week Low of Rs 780 as Sell-Off Deepens

MarketsMojo, 16 Oct

The Ramco Cements (RAMCOCEM) Share/Stock Price Live, NSE

TechGraph, 08 Oct

Ramco Cements Q1 profit tanks 63% on higher fuel costs; sales volume rises 12%

CNBC TV18, 07 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

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in oversold territory — could mean either a bargain or a stock still falling for good reason. Check the 'why' before assuming reversal.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongFinancial Health · Growth

MiddlingBusiness Quality · Profitability · Valuation · Risk

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. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

2 of 5 tripwires tripped — Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x; Revenue growth stays above 4% a year · see Key things to watch ↑