Stock market analyst E Mathew has maintained ‘Buy’ rating on CESC Ltd stock with a short term target of Rs 380.

According to Mr. Mathew, interested investors can purchase the stock on declines with a stop loss of Rs 339.

Mr. Mathew also said that the stock has been recommended after analyzing its last performances. Any decline in the stock price corresponding to the broad market can be used as a prospect to take fresh exposure.

Shares of the company, today (Aug 19), opened at Rs 355 as compared to its last closure at Rs 353.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Current EPS and P/E ratio stood at 29.30 and 12 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 715 and a low of Rs 309 on BSE.

CESC Ltd is now making cautious efforts to expand its market share, develop its business, regulates its asset quality and lay more pressure on customer service to perk up its profile and combat increasing competition.

On August 14, Reliance Energy Ltd, CESC Ltd and Tata Power Ltd have expressed interest in adopting 57% equity stake in Dishergarh Power Supply Corp (DPSC), said a top functionary of Andrew Yule Co Ltd (AYC), which has a stake in DPSC.

CESC announced a steady increase in its standalone net profit for the three months period ended June 2008. During the quarter, the company’s net profit climbed 14.63% to Rs 940 million, as against Rs 820 million during the same quarter, previous year.

The company registered earnings of Rs 7.51 per share during the same period, recording 22.82% decline over prior year period.

Net sales for the same period arose 9.21% to Rs 7,830 million, whereas total income for the quarter rose 10.79% to Rs 8,420 million, when compared with the prior year period.

On July 31, CESC Ltd, the private power conglomerate from the RPG Group, said that it will invest Rs 10,000 crore for establishing a 2,000 mw power plant in Bihar.

The company has signed up a MoU with the Bihar government. About 400 acres required for the project has been identified.

Moreover, the company has also applied for coal linkage from Rajmahal fields and will source water from the Ganges, which is 10 km from site.

The project would be funded through debt and equity in a 1:2.3 ratio. The plant would be commissioned in two phases.

Other stocks from the same sector that looks good for short term trading includes NTPC, Reliance Power, Tata Power and Reliance Infra.