Research houses keep upbeat stance on MISC as 1Q results within expectations Kenanga Research has maintained its “outperform” call on MISC Bhd, with an unchanged target price (TP) of RM8.10, as the shipping company’s financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) were within expectations. In a research note published today, the local research house highlighted that the weaker 1QFY21 was dragged by substantially lower spot tanker freight rates, coupled with steep losses for its heavy engineering segment. “We maintain ‘outperform’ with an unchanged TP of RM8.10, pegged at 1.1 times price-to-book value (P/BV) ratio. “Our ‘outperform’ call is premised on its stable and attractive dividend yield of approximately 5%, coupled with its environmental, social and governance (ESG)-compliant angle, inclusion in the F4GBM Index as well as it receiving a four-star ESG rating by FTSE Russell,” according to Kenanga research analyst Steven Chan.