AMBUJACEM vs ULTRACEMCO
Side-by-side comparison of Ambuja Cements Ltd. and UltraTech Cement Ltd.. Descriptive only — not investment advice.
Ambuja Cements Ltd.
Cement
Quality Score: 43/100
UltraTech Cement Ltd.
Cement
Quality Score: 42/100
At a glance
| Metric | AMBUJACEM | ULTRACEMCO |
|---|---|---|
| Quality Score | 43/100 | 42/100 |
| P/E (trailing) | 22.9 | 40.4 |
| Forward P/E | 28.0 | 25.7 |
| ROE | +8.3% | +10.6% |
| Profit margin | +11.6% | +9.2% |
| Debt-to-equity | 1.21 | 29.43 |
| Dividend yield | +0.45% | +0.67% |
| 1Y price return | -22.3% | -1.0% |
| From 52w high | -30.4% | -14.3% |
| Analyst rating1 = Strong Buy, 5 = Strong Sell | 1.98 | — |
Highlighted value = better on the metric (lower for P/E, D/E, drawdown, analyst rating; higher elsewhere). Descriptive only.
Snapshots
Ambuja Cements (NSE: AMBUJACEM) is a large-cap cement producer trading at Rs 434.90 as of the run date, down 22.28% over 12 months and 30.41% below its 52-week high, with both the 50-DMA (Rs 438.76) and 200-DMA (Rs 519.98) acting as overhead levels. The trailing PE stands at 22.85 against a cement-sector peer range of 12.0-51.9, while ROE of 8.31% has not cleared 15% in any tracked year and FCF was positive in only 1 of the tracked years. Mean analyst rating of 1.97 across 41 analysts (1-5 scale, lower = more constructive).
UltraTech Cement (ULTRACEMCO) is India's largest cement producer by capacity, currently priced at ₹11,232 — below both its 50-DMA (₹11,508) and 200-DMA (₹12,016) — with a trailing PE of 40.4, ROE of 10.59%, and a 14.32% drawdown from its 52-week high. Revenue has grown at a 3% five-year CAGR while the debt trend is rising and five-year earnings growth data is unavailable. Analyst coverage spans 39 analysts with a mean rating of 1.16 on a 1–5 scale (lower = more constructive), alongside a forward PE of 25.7 that embeds significant implied earnings growth relative to trailing results.
Pros
- ✓Revenue has grown at a 5-year CAGR of 9.4%, reflecting the company's scale as one of India's top-3 cement producers by capacity.
- ✓Trailing PE of 22.85 is the second-lowest among the 6 tracked cement peers (range 12.0-51.9), indicating compressed valuation relative to the sector median.
- ✓Q4 2026 net profit was reported at +78.5% YoY, and Devdiscourse coverage cited strategic capacity expansion efforts alongside the profit headline.
- ✓Dividend yield of 0.45% and RSI of 45.1 (neutral band) indicate neither extreme momentum nor dividend distress at current prices.
- ✓FCF-positive in 4 of the available fiscal years, indicating the business has generated cash above capital expenditures in most periods despite ongoing capacity expansion.
- ✓ROE of 10.59% ranks second among the 5 peers with available ROE data (GRASIM 6.29%, AMBUJACEM 8.31%, DALBHARAT 6.50%, ACC 10.93%), reflecting relatively stronger capital return within the peer set.
- ✓Trailing PE of 40.4 compresses to a forward PE of 25.7 — a 37% contraction — suggesting the analyst consensus is pricing in meaningful near-term earnings improvement, which if realised would reduce the valuation premium versus peers like Ambuja (PE 22.9) and ACC (PE 12.0).
- ✓Capacity expansion narrative persists in recent coverage, consistent with UltraTech's multi-year strategy of gaining market share in India's infrastructure-driven cement demand cycle.
Cons
- ✗ROE of 8.31% has not exceeded 15% in any single tracked year, and the persistence consistency score is 0 — returns on capital have been structurally low.
- ✗FCF was positive in only 1 of the tracked years, and D/E of 1.21 is on a rising trend, pointing to elevated and growing capital requirements relative to cash generation.
- ✗The stock has been below the 200-DMA for an extended period, currently 16.4% beneath that level (Rs 519.98), with a 30.41% drawdown from the 52-week high — the largest absolute price decline among the tracked peer set.
- ✗Q4 2026 EBITDA margins were under pressure; the strong net profit figure was driven by a tax benefit rather than operating leverage, creating a divergence between headline and operating earnings quality.
- ✗ROE has not exceeded 15% in any year of available history and the quality score of 31 ranks 4th of 6 cement peers, indicating capital efficiency below what the scale and market position of the company might imply.
- ✗The stock has declined 13.87% over 3 months and 1.03% over 12 months, trading below both its 50-DMA and 200-DMA for an extended period, with RSI at 39.72 approaching oversold territory.
- ✗Debt trend is rising and the D/E figure of 29.43 warrants scrutiny; five-year earnings growth data is absent from the available dataset, leaving the earnings-growth thesis supporting the forward PE of 25.7 unverifiable from this data.
- ✗A ₹808.78 crore income-tax demand for Assessment Year 2023-24 has been contested by the company via appeal, representing an unresolved contingent liability that could affect reported earnings if the demand is upheld.
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