15 Jhunjhunwala stocks in ‘bear grip’ but portfolio is beating Sensex for 2021

Jhunjhunwala’s equity portfolio of about three dozen stocks is now worth over Rs 21,000 crore compared with Rs 19,600 crore at the end of June quarter, Rs 16,700 crore at March-end and Rs 16,000 crore at December 2020 end, data publicly available with Trendlyne suggests.

This is even when some of his material holdings such as Lupin, Jubilant Pharmova, NCC, Indiabulls Housing, Geojit Financial Services, Karur Vyvsa Bank and Wockhardt are down up to 50 per cent from their 52-week highs.

Often referred to as India’s own Warren Buffett, the ace investor owns Rs 711 crore worth of shares in Lupin, which last quoted at Rs 981 on BSE, down 23 per cent from its June 2 high of Rs 1,267 apiece. The stock is down 2 per cent year to date.

The Big Bull holds Rs 632 crore worth of shares in Jubilant Pharmova, which is down 36 per cent from its 52-week high of Rs 981.90 hit on February 8 and is trading flat on a year-to-date basis.

Jhunjhunwala entered Indiabulls Housing Finance in June quarter of 2021. This stock has fallen 27 per cent over its 52-week high hit on June 16 and has delivered flat returns in the last six months.

NCC, where the Big Bull owns Rs 616 crore worth of shares, is down 21 per cent from its 52-week high of Rs 100 hit on February 9. The stock, however, is up 29 per cent year to date.

Shares of Geojit Financial Services, Karur Vysya Bank and Wockhardt are down up to 48 per cent. Jhunjhunwala owns stakes worth Rs 100-150 crore in these companies.

Prozone Intu Properties, Mandhana Retail, Prakash Industries, Bilcare, Autoline Industries, TV18 Broadcast and Rallis India are some of his other stock holdings, which have fallen up to 50 per cent from their 52-week highs.

That said, Jhunjunwala’s biggest stock holding Titan has risen 31 per cent year to date and hit a record high of Rs 2,067 this past Thursday. Even though the ace investor has been trimming his stake in Titan for a couple of quarters, his holding in the Tata group stock stood at Rs 8,676 crore as of Friday.

Antique Stock Broking has this month initiated coverage on Titan with a ‘buy’ recommendation and a price target of Rs 2,228 as it expects the company to post FY20-24 earnings growth of 19 per cent CAGR led by revenue growth of 13 per cent CAGR and EBITDA growth of 16 per cent CAGR.

Fortis Healthcare (Rs 900 crore), Jubilant Ingrevia (Rs 705 crore) and Delta Corp (Rs 222 crore) are Jhunjhunwala’s other material stock holdings, which have rallied up to 161 per cent year to date and are hovering near their 52-week highs.

Jhunjhunwala bought into SAIL (Rs 700 crore) in the June quarter. This stock is up 67 per cent in the past six months. Crisil (Rs 1,200 crore), Jhunjhunwala’s second-biggest holding, is up 47 per cent year to date, even though it is down 16 per cent from its 52-week high.