Technical analyst Anil Singhvi has maintained 'buy' rating on Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) stock with an intra-day target of Rs 435.

The analyst said that the stock can be purchased with a stop loss of Rs 410.

The stock of the company, on December 22, closed at Rs 417.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 555.45 and a low of Rs 298 on BSE.

Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 29.30 and 14.10 respectively.

During the last month, HPCL and its associates announced that they will divest 40% of their equity holding in a gas-bearing block in offshore Australia to Apache Corporation, whixh is based in the United States.

HPCL Chairman and Managing Director Subir Roychowdhary stated, "We have agreed to farm-out a part of out stake in WA-388-P to Apache."

For the three month period ended September 2010, HPCL recorded a net profit of Rs 20896.1 million as compared to Rs 13668 lacs during the same quarter o last year.

Net Sales surged 25.57% to Rs 307,097.3 million during the period under review.

For the first time in the record of a PSU, a female is ready to be a part of the board of HPCL, a 'Navratna' or high-performing PSU, with the selection of Nishi Vasudeva as director (marketing).