Stock market analyst Hitendra Vasudeo of stockmechanics.com maintained ‘Buy’ rating on Colgate Palmolive to achieve an intraday target of Rs 204.

According to Mr. Vasudeo, interested traders can buy the stock around Rs 195.70 - Rs 189.30 with a strict stop loss of Rs 187.

Mr. Vasudeo also said that if the stock market remains on the positive track, the stock will hit another target of Rs 218 in today’s session.

Shares of the company, on Monday (July 06), closed at Rs 197.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 8.65 and 23.90 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 209.70 and a low of Rs 341 on BSE.

ITC reported a steady increase in standalone net profit for the three month period ended March 2009.

During the period, the company’s profit increased 9.97% to Rs 8,089.90 million as against a profit of Rs 7,356.40 million in the same quarter previous year.

Net sales fell 0.18% to Rs 39,274.10 million, whereas total income for the quarter declined 2.89% to Rs 39,796.60 million, when compared with the prior year period.

ITC is one of India's leading private sector companies having a market capitalization of around $14 billion and a turnover of more than $5 billion.

ITC is rated among the World's Best Big Companies, Asia's 'Fab 50' and the World's Most Reputable Companies by Forbes magazine, among India's Most Respected Companies by BusinessWorld and among India's Most Valuable Companies by Business Today.