KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): Shares of MISC Bhd rose 1.65% in the morning session today after AffinHwang Capital Research maintained its “hold” rating on MISC with a higher target price of RM8.30 (from RM7.90) and said while the liquefied natural gas segment will provide sustainable earnings, petroleum shipping could see potential upside given the uptrend in tanker rates.

At 12.30pm, MISC was up 14 sen to RM8.65 with 3.43 million shares done.

In a note today, the research house said investors could also expect potential payout upon the completion of the VTTI disposal.

“We have raised our FY15–17E earnings forecasts by 6.6%–7.4% on lower bunker costs assumptions by 10%–12% to US$370–US$400/MT.

“We also raised our 12-month target price to RM8.30 from RM7.90 previously. Maintain ‘hold’,” it said.

(Note: The Edge Research’s fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)