Ambuja Cements shares are among today's top gainers

Ambuja Cements, a maker of the building material, was the top gainer in the cement sector after the stock got a rare `buy' rating from a global brokerage on the back of attractive valuations, a rise in cement prices and possibly demand.

Japanese brokerage Nomura gave a buy rating on Ambuja and a price target of 253 rupees on expectations that demand for cement will rise in the North and western regions, the main markets for Ambuja, as the government steps up expenditure on infrastructure projects, mainly the construction of roads.

Nomura said prices of cement had inched up marginally in the northern and western regions, which is beneficial for Ambuja. The stock trades at 11 times 1-yr forward EV/EBIDTA, which is 1-standard deviation below the average since 2011, Nomura said in a note to its clients.

As a consequence, Ambuja rose 9.30 rupees, or 4.4 percent, to 220.30 rupees on the National Stock Exchange, where 21. 2 lakh shares were traded compared with 42.5 lakh shares, which is the 5-day average.

Ambuja's market capitalisation has gone up 3.5 percent to 33,900 crore rupees in the past one year. The stock trades at 3.3 times its book value of 66 rupees.

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