While midcap pharma company Everest Organics saw a modest share price gain over the past year (rising 11% as per its overall technicals), in the last month it has seen a sharp surge, rising over 32% in the last one month alone in an otherwise volatile market. The company is growing sharply on a small base, getting investors excited as it delivered big increases in operating profit margins - the operating profit margin rose from 7.3% in December 2017 to 14.8% in December 2018.
Are there red flags? There are some. The company auditors have noted that the company had planned for a Rs.70.31 lakhs for payment of gratuity for the employees of the company, as of FY18, an amount that needs to be deposited in a Gratuity Fund. However only five lakhs have been deposited so far. Auditors also noted that the Board has yet to take up assessing the fair value of the company's fixed assets, which is due to be reported at the end of the financial year. And a planned expensing of other interest free loans to employees was not present in the firm's balance sheet.
The company's PE TTM at 17.9 is less than its PE 3 year average, which stands at 65, and its annual ROE stood at above 9.2%. While investors have been getting excited about the stock, average volumes are low, which means that price fluctuations can happen easily as money pulls in and out, so it would do well for investors to stay cautious.
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