Stock market analyst Ashish Chaturmotha of Anand Rathi Securities has maintained 'buy' rating on Mercator Lines Limited stock to achieve a target of Rs 82.

According to analyst, the interested investors can buy the stock with a strict stop loss of Rs 68.

The stock of the company, on Nov 05, closed at Rs 72.55 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 73.70 and a low of Rs 43.30 on BSE.

Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 4.91 and 14.73 respectively.

Country's second biggest private shipping firm Mercator Lines Ltd has decided to make an investment of $25 million by the next five years on oil exploration at its Cambay basin blocks in western India.

Company's MD Atul Agarwal stated, "In the current year, from December-January onwards we intend to spend about USD 3 million which will be spread over four-five months."

Mercator Lines Ltd declared the outcomes for the first half of FY -11 ended September 30.

The total consolidated income of the company stood at Rs 1,271 crore during H1 FY -11 as compared to Rs 854 crore during H1 FY -10.

Mercator Lines said that its net profit was Rs 113 crore in the H1 FY -11 as against Rs 43 crore during the corresponding period of 2009.

During the said period, Mercator Group appended 1 Aframax tanker, 1 Panamax dry bulk carrier and has contracted to get hold of one more Panamax for acquisition.