Street signs: Jhunjhunwala stocks, analysts bullish on MPS, and more

Key Jhunjhunwala stocks see sell-off

Aptech and Escorts, key stocks in billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio, came under heavy selling pressure last week. Shares of Aptech dropped eight per cent, and those of Escorts declined seven per cent on Friday. Jhunjhunwala holds more than 12.6 per cent stake in Aptech and 9.2 per cent in Escorts. Besides these two stocks, other key holdings of Jhunjhunwala’s such as Lupin, Crisil, Tata Motors and Aurobindo Pharma have also come under selling pressure in recent months.

Samie Modak

Analysts bullish on MPS

MPS, formerly Macmillan Publishing, is attracting investor interest after it announced the acquisition of Tata Interactive Systems. Analysts are giving a thumbs up to the deal as it will improve the company’s growth prospects because of opportunities in the corporate learning business besides adding strong inorganic revenue run-rate. After the deal announcement last month, the stock hit a high of Rs 670. However, it has slipped marginally and closed at Rs 623 on Friday.

Joydeep Ghosh

Sikka’s skin in the game 

Chief executive officer Sundeep Sikka has been buying shares of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM) from the open market amid weakness in the asset manager’s stock price. Since February, Sikka has bought an average 5,000 shares in eight different transactions, exchange filings show. The move could be to show ‘skin in the game’ and send a signal to the market that the company offers value, said a market expert. However, so far at least, this has done little to boost investor confidence. The stock currently is at Rs 240, below its offer price of Rs 252. Meanwhile, HDFC MF, Birla MF and IDFC MF are others investors who have purchased shares of RNAM in the past month. ICICI Prudential Life and UTI MF, on the other hand, have trimmed their holdings in the stock.

Samie Modak