Fall-proof: These small- & mid-caps can gain 20-50% | Economic Times

Mumbai: Small- and mid-cap stocks have suddenly gone out of favour following the recent sell-off in them. While analysts expect the broader market to underperform, some stocks could still be outliers. Analysts have increased their price targets on 26 stocks such as Vardhman Textiles, HG Infra, Orient Cement, APL Apollo, BSE, NOCIL, Arvind, JMC Projects, Route Mobile and Heritage Food, among others, by 10-40% recently.Based on Bloomberg consensus estimates, ET has compiled a list of 15 mid- and small-cap stocks that have seen more than 10% increase in price targets and could return 20-50% in one year.For instance, analysts have revised the average price target of EPC player HG Infra Engineering from ₹549 to ₹677. According to Emkay Global, the government’s focus on the road sector will ensure strong growth for HG Infra in the medium term. At the same time, diversification in areas like water, railways, and urban infrastructure will keep long-term growth prospects in the EPC business buoyant, the brokerage said. 85749425Vardhman is one of the favorite stocks of analysts in the textiles sector. The company is among the few in the sector that have maintained a debt-equity ratio below 1 despite continuous capacity addition. Global retailers are looking at de-risking their supply chains, and Vardhman is expected to be a beneficiary in the yarn and fabric segment, according to a note by ICICI Securities.Similarly, Orient Cement has been upgraded for deleveraging consistently. Analysts are bullish on Arvind on the expectation of strong recovery in export and domestic demand. Jindal Stainless is on analysts’ radar for capacity expansion.