LIC plays contrarian on Sensex firms

LIC, India's largest domestic equity investor, booked profit in a dozen Sensex companies during the October-December quarter while raising stake in an equal number of companies as a contrarian investor.

An analysis of the latest shareholding pattern of Sensex companies showed LIC booked profit in 12 companies--IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, L&T, Titan, TCS, HDFC and Wipro.

The companies in which LIC raised its stake during the third quarter included Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's Lab,

Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Tech Mahindra.

LIC's stake remained unchanged in SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC, and Bajaj Finserv.

Data compiled by Prime Database shows in value terms LIC's holdings in listed companies were to the tune of Rs 9.53 lakh crore at the end of December, an increase of 1.46 per cent from the previous quarter.

The highest increases in LIC's holdings, in percentage terms, were in Power Grid Corporation of India, Dredging Corporation of India, CAMS, Coforge, Deepak Nitrite, JSW Energy, Endurance Technologies, SBI Cards & Payment Services, PI Industries and Laurus Labs.

The 10 companies in which the insurer sold the most stake were IRB Infrastructure Developers, ABB India, Hindustan Motors, Sterlite Technologies, Hindustan Aeronautics, Bombay Dyeing, Central Bank of India, Steel Authority of India, KEC International and Bharat Bijlee.