The monthly portfolio disclosures by mutual funds give investors an insight into what the smart money is doing in the market and the sectors and companies that are currently in favour or have fallen off the radar for fund managers. This screener shows stocks where mutual funds increased holdings in October 2021. The monthly data indicates growing interest from fund managers in a leading technology company, cement as well a general insurance company. Real estate, pharma as well as financial services companies are also seeing fund managers’ interest piquing in October 2021.

HCL Technologies – geared up for new order wins 

HCL Technologies is among India’s top five IT services companies. It recorded its highest ever quarterly revenues in Q2FY22 at Rs 20,895 crore. The management guided for revenue growth of 22-23%, and EBIT margin in the range of 19-21% for FY22.

In Q2FY22, HCL Technologies secured multiple and high-value long-term contracts with the world’s leading brands. The new deals include the addition of 18 new clients in the $ 20 million deal category, 18 new clients in the $ 50 million deal category, and 1 new client in the $ 100 million deal category. A strong deal pipeline and diverse service mix across sectors will help the company attain growth in FY22 as well as in FY23

Anticipating strong demand in the coming months, the company is on a hiring spree and hired around 11,135 employees during Q2FY22. Over the last three quarters, the company has so far hired a combined total of around 32,000 employees.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in HCL Technologies

Fund managers who added HCL Technologies to their portfolio are Priyanka Khandelwal, Sankaran Naren and Dharmesh Kakkad to ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund Growth scheme, Sailesh Jain to Tata Arbitrage Fund Regular Growth scheme, Hiten Shah to Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth scheme, and Manish Banthia, Priyanka Khandelwal and Sankaran Naren to ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund Growth scheme.

Ambuja Cements – Capacity expansions lay foundation for future growth

Ambuja Cements is a leading cement company in India. It is part of the LafargeHolcim Group, the global leader in the building materials industry.

The company commissioned its new greenfield project at Marwar Mundwa, Rajasthan in September 2021. This plant has a production capacity of 1.8 MT (million tonnes) cement, 3 MT clinker. This is expected to boost cement sales by about 5 MT. With this, the company’s installed cement capacity now stands at 29.7 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) with four captive ports.

In keeping with the company’s target to reach 50 MT capacity in the next few years, the company has already embarked upon a new brownfield expansion of 1.5 MT cement grinding unit at Ropar, Punjab.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in Ambuja Cements

Gaurav Misra and Gaurav Khandewal added Ambuja Cements to Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund Regular Growth scheme, Priyanka Khandelwal, Rajat Chandak and Anish Tawakley to ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund Growth scheme, Harsha Upadhyaya, Abhishek Bisen and Arjun Khanna added the company to Kotak Multicap Fund Regular Growth scheme and Dinesh Ahuja, Dinesh Balachandran and Mohit Jain added the stock to SBI Balanced Advantage Fund Regular Growth scheme.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance – Ensuring profitability in a post-pandemic world

ICICI Lombard General Insurance is a leading private general insurance company that offers various insurance products like travel, home, health and motor covers.

In Q2FY22, net premium earnings grew 32.0% YoY to Rs. 3,250 crore. PAT increased by 7.4% YoY to Rs 447 crore. To maintain its profitability, the company raised prices on group health policies by 15-20% due to an increase in health insurance claims arising due to the pandemic. 

Another positive development is the completion of the merger with Bharti AXA. The company received the final approval from the IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) on September 3, 2021.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in ICICI Lombard

Fund managers who added ICICI Lombard GI to their portfolio are R Srinivasan to SBI Focused Equity Fund Growth scheme, Priyanka Khandelwal, Sankaran Naren and Dharmesh Kakkad to ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund Growth scheme, R.Srinivasan and Dinesh Ahuja purchased shares for SBI Equity Hybrid Fund Regular Payout Inc Dist cum Cap Wdrl scheme and Dinesh Ahuja, Dinesh Balachandran and Mohit Jain purchased for SBI Balanced Advantage Fund Regular Growth scheme.

Oberoi Realty – Unprecedented response to new launches piques investor interest

Oberoi Realty is a Mumbai-focused real estate developer with a presence in the premium residential, commercial, and hospitality segments.

In October 2021, the company witnessed a phenomenal response to its new project Elysian in Goregaon, Mumbai. It recorded gross bookings of Rs 787 crore for 3.9 lakh sq ft within days of the project launch.

The cumulative gross booking value from January 2021 to date for ongoing projects stood at about Rs 2,705 crore, which is higher than the annual revenues for any year in the past five years. With demand for premium projects picking up and an expansive lineup of projects, Oberoi Realty is on the radar of many fund managers.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in Oberoi Realty

Hiten Shah purchased shares for Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth scheme, Sailesh Raj Bhan and Kinjal Desai purchased shares for Nippon India Multi Cap Fund - Growth scheme, while Shridatta Bhandwaldar added to Canara Robeco Emerging Equities Growth scheme and Aniruddha Naha and Ravi Adukia added to PGIM India Flexi Cap Fund Regular Growth scheme.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals - new US facility and consumer healthcare to drive growth 

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven pharma company with a global presence. The September 2021 quarter was an important quarter for the company as it posted its highest-ever quarterly revenues of Rs 3,134.4 crore and highest quarterly operating profit at Rs 590.2 crore.

The company commissioned a new facility at Monroe in the US, which will bolster the US business. It is the company’s first manufacturing site in the US. Another product expected to gain substantial market share is Ryaltris, (nasal spray for allergic rhinitis) which has been launched in the US as well as global markets.

In India, Glenmark Pharma forayed into the consumer health segment focusing on dermatology products led by two brands, Candid and Scalpe plus.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

Fund managers who added Glenmark to their portfolios are Anil Shah and Vinod Bhat to Aditya Birla Sun Life Flexi Cap Fund Growth scheme, Anil Shah to Aditya Birla Sun Life Mid Cap Fund Growth scheme. Shares were purchased by Hiten Shah for Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund Growth scheme and Sailesh Jain for Tata Arbitrage Fund Regular Growth scheme.

ABB India - New sectors open up doors for future growth

ABB India is a multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, operating mainly in robotics, power, heavy electrical equipment, and automation technology areas.

InQ2FY22, the company bounced back with revenues of Rs 1,803 crore, the highest in the last seven quarters and profits of Rs 119.9 crore, a YoY increase of 50%

The company received new orders of total of Rs 19,100 crore, contributed by Motion (42%), Electrification (37%), Process Automation (19%). New high growth sectors such as renewables, water, data centers, railways, metro and F&B (food and beverage) are the sectors driving the order book.

Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director at ABB India, said, “the strong demand for ABB products, solutions and services portfolio in many of our targeted market segments along with our continuous focus on operational efficiency and cost control ensured improvement in profitability despite the sharp increase in commodity prices during the quarter.”

Fund managers who increased their holdings in ABB India

Aniruddha Naha and Vivek Sharma added to PGIM India Midcap Opportunities Fund Regular Growth scheme, Manish Gunwani, Kinjal Desai and Dhrumil Shah to Nippon India Growth Fund - Growth scheme, while Abhiroop Mukherjee and Herin Visaria added to Motilal Oswal Flexicap Fund Regular Plan Growth scheme and Shreyash Devalkar and Hitesh Das to Axis Midcap Fund Growth scheme.

Gokaldas Exports - Capacity addition and favourable policy to aid future revenues

Gokaldas Exports is one of India’s leading apparel exporters with an annual capacity of 30 million pieces. The Q2FY22 results are significant, with the highest quarterly revenues in the last six quarters of Rs 1,803 crore and operating profit of Rs 165.4 crore.

Production is currently running at peak utilisation levels, with a robust order book for the next six months. Demand from the US apparel market continues to remain healthy. The company has planned a capex of Rs 340 crore over the next four years (till FY25) which will help generate additional revenues worth Rs 1,350 crore.

Government policies like the PLI (production linked incentive) scheme for textiles and textiles parks policy is set to boost apparel exports from India. In addition, China+1 strategy of global brands provide long-term growth opportunities for players like Gokaldas Exports.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in Gokaldas Exports

Gokaldas Exports found buyers in fund managers Samir Rachh and Kinjal Desai for Nippon India Small Cap Fund - Growth scheme, Sohini Andani for SBI Magnum Midcap Fund Regular Growth scheme, Chandraprkash Padiyar and Satish Chandra Mishra for Tata Small Cap Fund Regular Growth scheme and Saurabh Pant for SBI Consumption Opportunities Fund Regular Plan Payout Inc Dist cum Cap Wdrl scheme.

Escorts - Collaboration paves the way for increased export potential 

Escorts is the third-largest tractor manufacturer in India. It has a strong presence in northern and western India. It is present in construction and material handling equipment, such as cranes, compactors, and forklifts.

The collaboration with Japanese tractor maker Kubota helped expand the products and technology upgrades in tractors, which resulted in improved numbers both in the domestic market, as well as exports. 

Growth in the construction equipment segment is likely to drive sales in H2FY22 due to the thrust for massive infrastructure projects in India.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in Escorts

Fund managers purchasing shares of Escorts include Taher Badshah and Dhimant Kothari for Invesco India Contra Fund Growth scheme, Kinjal Desai, Anand Gupta and Anju Chhajer for Nippon India Arbitrage Fund Growth scheme, while Sajeev Sharma, Vasav Sahgal, and Ankit Pande added shares to two schemes, Quant Active Fund Growth scheme and Quant Mid Cap Fund Growth scheme.

Prince Pipes and Fittings - New partnership set to increase production and sales 

Prince Pipes is a manufacturer of PVC and UPVC pipes for plumbing, agriculture, and sewage disposal. The company listed on the stock exchanges in December 2019  and its stock saw a stellar rise since. In the 22 months since listing the company’s stock rose nearly 6X returns till October 2021. The Q2FY22 results were encouraging as the company posted its highest-ever quarterly revenues of  Rs 762.5 crore.

A major development for the company in Q2FY22 was the partnership with Lubrizol for supply of Corzan CPVC processors to manufacture and sell Corzan CPVC material and piping solutions in India. This can significantly boost the sales of CPVC products in coming quarters.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in Prince Pipes

Neelesh Surana and Ankit Jain purchased shares for Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund Growth scheme, Mahendra Kumar Jajoo, Harshad Borawke and Vrijesh Kasare for Mirae Asset Hybrid Equity Fund -Regular Plan-Growth scheme, Neelesh Surana for Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund -Regular Plan-Growth scheme and Ankit Jain for Mirae Asset Midcap Fund Regular Growth scheme.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services - Growth across verticals in a competitive space

Motilal Oswal is a diversified financial services company. Its verticals include capital markets, asset management, housing finance, and fund-based investments. Since the onset of the pandemic, the company was an unexpected beneficiary of the exponential growth in new demat accounts and investors in the capital markets.

The company’s Q2FY22 results indicate the growing stickiness of customers. It posted its highest ever quarterly revenues of Rs 1328.8 crore. Revenues grew across verticals, with capital markets revenues of Rs 604.8 crore, an increase of 44% YoY, asset management revenues of Rs 147.2 crore, an increase of 27% YoY and private equity revenues of Rs 151 crore, an increase of 463% YoY.

Fund managers who increased their holdings in Motilal Oswal Financial Services

Fund managers who added to their portfolios are Rajeev Thakkar, Raunak Onkar and Raj Mehta to two schemes, Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Regular Growth and Parag Parikh Tax Saver Fund Regular Growth, Prasanna Pathak also added to two schemes Taurus Flexi Cap Fund - Growth and  Taurus Tax Shield-Growth Option.