EFFECT OF PROFITABILITY, RETURN AND LEVERAGE RATIOS ON STOCK PRICE OF SELECTED CEMENT COMPANIES IN INDIA

The Indian cement industry plays a crucial role in infrastructure development, Housing Construction, and economic growth of the nation. The Indian Cement companies are the second largest producers of cement which contributes significant portion to the GDP. Investment in cement industry is the great opportunity as cement has strong domestic demand, infrastructure demand by government and largescale capacity expansion by major cement companies. Such Stock prices of cement companies are influenced by various internal and external factors, in which financial ratios play key role in determining the stock performance. This study examines how key profitability ratios influence the stock prices of selected cement companies in India. The secondary data is collected from cement companies from 2004 to 2025 for selected 18 major listed cement firms in Bombay Stock Exchange. The study applies descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and heteroscedasticity corrected regression technique. The results show that PBT margin, NET Profit Margin, Return on capital Employed and Asset Turnover ratio are the statistically significant factors which determine the stock price whereas PBDIT Margin, PBIT Margin, Return on Networth/Equity, Return on Assets, and Total Debt Equity ratios are portrayed as insignificant variables for determining the stock price movements of selected cement companies.