United Spirits lost 2.98% to Rs 3,202 at 11:54 IST on BSE on media reports that a foreign brokerage has maintained its sell rating on the stock.
Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 245.04 points or 0.91% at 27,090.85.
On BSE, so far 13,000 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 23,812 shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 3,300 and low of Rs 3,198.40 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 2,303 on 9 October 2014. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 4,080 on 5 March 2015.
The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 8 October 2015, surging 8.75% compared with Sensex's 6.04% rise. The scrip, however, underperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 3.69% as against Sensex's 3.04% fall.
The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 145.33 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.
The foreign brokerage reportedly said in its research report that United Spirits has been keeping too much focus on margins and premiumisation, while little attention has been paid to the brand shifts occurring in the industry in the past few years. Premiumisation is a defensive tactic to offset margin pressures but with all players adopting it, gains envisaged 2-3 years ago are proving to be elusive, the foreign brokerage reportedly said. Rising taxes, depressed consumer sentiment and recent impositions by Maharashtra government to offset drought will further dampen liquor demand, the brokerage noted.
United Spirits reported a net profit of Rs 19.92 crore in Q1 June 2015 compared with net loss of Rs 61.83 crore in Q1 June 2014. Net sales rose 11.7% to Rs 1988.40 crore in Q1 June 2015 over Q1 June 2014.
United Spirits makes alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of British multinational Diageo plc.
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