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Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s biggest institutional investor, holds over 1 per cent stake in as many as 344 companies in a portfolio that was worth Rs 6.50 lakh crore as of August 21.
But just 25 stocks contribute 72 per cent of the portfolio value.
Stocks from across industries such as FMCG, oil gas, infrastructure, IT, finance, metals and mining, auto, logistics and power are among the top holdings of LIC in value terms.
The insurance behemoth held 197.50 crore shares of ITC, valued at Rs 61,770 crore, at the end of June 2018.
The stock is up 19 per cent for this calendar against a 12 per cent rise in the Nifty50 index.
It underperformed the NSE barometer in calendar years 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014.
Analysts are currently bullish on the stock.
“ITC is going to be a pedigree stock.
I have a Rs 350 target for the yearend.
And I can stick my neck out to say ITC will be Rs 450, because 63 per cent of the cigarette volume is no longer the brand show.
Also, ITC is now all about paper, hotels, FMCG and ITC Haryali.
Other businesses are doing extremely well.
Valuations are extremely attractive,” Sanjiv Bhasin of IIFL told ETNow.
Reliance Industries (RIL) is one stock where the insurance behemoth holds 7.6 per cent stake, worth Rs 58,637 crore.
The oil-to-telecom behemoth on Thursday became India’s first listed company to hit the Rs 8 lakh crore mark in market capitalisation.
The Mukesh Ambani-led company last month posted 4.47 per cent rise in June quarter profit at Rs 9,459 crore on robust growth in petrochemical business backed by higher realisation in refining.
Global brokerage Macquarie has an ‘outperform’ rating on Reliance Industries, with a target price of Rs 1,315.
It estimates RIL’s EBIT to grow at 2.2 times in three years.
Shares of TCS and RIL have advanced over 50 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively, this year till August 21.
Larsen Toubro (holding worth Rs 32,572 crore), Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 30,359 crore), State Bank of India (Rs 27,636 crore), Axis Bank (Rs 21,356 crore), Infosys (Rs 20,694) are among other major players in the LIC portfolio in value terms.
The LT stock has been creating a lot of buzz on Dalal Street after its board approved a proposal to buy back six crore shares worth Rs 9,000 crore to reward shareholders.
G Chokkalingam, Founder Equinomics Research, expects around 20 per cent upside in the stock in next three months.
Nomura has a ‘buy’ rating on State Bank of India with a target price of Rs 360.
“Valuations at 0.9 times are not undemanding.
We maintain a buy rating as the corporate cycle is improving and core pre-provision operating profit (PPOP) is likely to improve,” Nomura said.
SBI posted a Rs 4,876 crore loss for June quarter on higher provisioning for accumulated non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans.
The PSU lender had earned a net profit of Rs 2,005.5 crore in the same period last year.
LIC’s investments in ICICI Bank, ONGC, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, HUL, HDFC, LIC Housing Finance, HDFC Bank, Mahindra Mahindra, Asian Paints, Indian Oil Corporation, Sun Pharma, YES Bank, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Tata Steel and Indiabulls Housings Finance together was worth Rs 2,11,309 crore as of August 21.
Goldman Sachs has a ‘buy’ call on the country’s biggest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, with a target price of Rs 11,041.
“Ciaz will underpin the brand’s strong customer loyalty.
We expect the new model to kickstart rollout of hybrid power train in India.
New Ciaz should further widen leadership and add to existing robust order backlog,” the global brokerage said.
Of the 25 top stocks, as many as nine stocks have delivered negative returns this year.
Shares of IndianOil, Tata Steel, ONGC, NTPC, Power Grid, Maruti Suzuki, Adani Ports, LIC Housing Finance and SBI are down up to 19 per cent this year.
