A total of 15 companies including Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GSFC), PVR Inox Ltd, SJVN Ltd, City Union Bank Ltd, IIFL Finance Ltd and One97 Communications Ltd (Paytm) saw retail investors buying over 100 basis points additional stakes in the March quarter. Others in the list included HDFC Bank Ltd, Vaibhav Global Ltd, Campus Activewear Ltd, Archean Chemical Industries Ltd, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (Midhani) and GMM Pfaudler Ltd. This is as per shareholding patterns of 123 BSE500 companies that have disclosed quarterly shareholding patterns on stock exchanges so far.
Shares of nine of these 15 companies delivered negative returns while only two ended up delivering double digit returns.
Individuals holding up to Rs 2 lakh worth shares owned 27.19 per cent stake in chemicals company GSFC at the end of March quarter. This was 574 basis points higher than 21.45 per cent they held at the end of December quarter. The stock is down 0.64 per cent in 2024 so far.
In the case of PVR Inox, retail holding jumped 4.03 percentage points to 12.3 per cent from 8.27 per cent. This stock has fallen 15 per cent year-to-date. PSU stock SJVN, which is up 46 per cent in 2024 so far, saw retail holding rising 233 basis points to 8.73 per cent from 6.4 per cent. Retail investors bought 217 basis points additional stake City Union Bank. They held 25.42 per cent in the private bank at the March quarter end against 23.25 per cent in the December quarter.
IIFL Finance and Paytm are two stocks that have plunged 27 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively, this year. But the retail holding in the two tocks went up sequentially by 185 basis points and 168 basis points, respectively.
HDFC Bank (up 146 basis points), Vaibhav Global (145 basis points), Campus Activewear (137 basis points) and GMM Pfaudler Ltd (up 133 basis points) were some ither stocks that saw heavy retail buying but their stocks falling up to 12 per cent.
Sunteck Realty Ltd, Medplus Health Services Ltd, Jamna Auto Industries Ltd, Archean Chemical Industries and Midhani were some other stocks where tail holding jumped in excess of 100 basis points in the March quarter.