Looking for a healthy portfolio amid volatility? 8 stocks from hospital space with upside scope of up to 2

While all the headlines have been hogged by new age companies and sectors, there has been a sharp surge in valuations in one sector which has performed extremely well in the last two years. It i the hospital space and it is still under the radar. The post listing performance of IPOs from this space shows that both domestic and institutional investors are ready to pay a premium to have these stocks in their portfolio. Given the macro picture , it has a secular growth trend as per capita spending is likely to continue to increase.

In 2008, the IPO of a power company got subscribed in less than a minute of its opening and the size of that issue was Rs 11,563 crore. This just shows the desire to own power sector stocks at that point of time. From those days of frenzy to the nadir in 2014, when power companies were on the top of the list of NPA of the banks. Power companies have seen both the extreme of valuations. It is a sector where after many failures and to some extent a consolidation, some companies have emerged which know how to deal with all kinds of economic and industry cycles. That is probably the reason why a number of companies from the power sector have seen a sharp re-rating in the last one year. Hoping the survivors have learnt their lessons.

Among many industries which have seen a strong transformation in the last nine years due to policy initiatives has been the sugar industry. This is despite the fact that sugar is a state subject where central policies can only play a limited role. If one looks at the balance sheet of a large number of them, they are far better placed than they were six years ago and to some extent in the last two years even the institutional investors have started to take exposure in this sector which they have avoided for more than three decades.

If one looks at how the policies have panned in the last nine years. It is clear that one by one every sector has been looked upon and if that sector has been getting government subsidies in any form, the government has tried to improve the delivery mechanism of that subsidy by plugging leakage in a manner that the right person gets the subsidy and the government gets the intended result. In the case of the fertilizer industry, it started with urea getting coated with neem which was not a financial measure but had a financial impact. Similarly, there were some measures which in the short term impacted some fertilizer companies but over a period, there has been a clean up going in the industry. Will the street be having a re-look at them ?

The bull run which started right in the middle of 2020 when covid was ravaging the world, had seen many sectors coming into limelight. One among them was agrochemical. The whole sector got rerated and some of the Indian companies which are focussed on domestic markets got fair share of attention from the street. But then they faced headwinds and have been underperforming, but in case of the companies the headwinds are temporary and the underlying changes these companies are doing makes them worthy of looking as long term investment bets. ET screener powered by Refinitiv’s Stock Report Plus lists down stocks from the chemical sector with high upside potential over the next 12 months, having an average recommendation rating of “buy” or a “hold”.

While the recent performance of stocks like REC, PFC and recently listed IRDEA has brought focus back to one segment of power companies. But the fact is that in the last few years, the sector has been going through a consolidation. Some of it was forced by the banks due to many companies going under the IBC and some due to the fact that any industry which has gone through a troubled phase of almost a decade, the players who are able to survive tend to get more attention because they have learnt the art of surviving a tough phase which is one most important feature for long term survival. Power sector stocks are now catching up with what the market has witnessed in the last few years.

It might surprise the majority that the first sector to get re-rated post liberalization in 1991 was the “ hotel sector”. The reason, it was expected that both business traffic and tourist traffic to India would see a boom. In fact it did happen but then as usual , many new players entered and existing players in their wisdom took debt to expand presence and we saw the industry getting into trouble. It is almost after two decades that in covid and post covid, there has been a consolidation. Many builders who turned into hoteliers are the ones which have been moving out of business.

Why do multinational companies, whose half of the products are outsourced to much smaller manufacturing units still enjoy a higher multiples than many others. Simple answer, they own the brands and hence the pricing power. There are many sectors where brands play an important role. Branded apparel space has seen many tailwinds, right from implementation of GST which removed the tax arbitrage between organized and unorganized players to something which is not heard much on the street, which is China plus one sourcing. Is this industry finally reaching a stage where scale and brands will get desired valuations.

The regulator said there will also be a provision for SMS and email alerts to customers when their credit information is accessed from CICs. The RBI said it will also bring in a time frame for ingestion of data received by CICs from Credit Institutions and disclosures relating to the number and nature of customer complaints received on the website of CICs.

Anuraag Saxena said the federation hopes the government will recognise that companies in the sector are looking to protect players and not trying to circumvent the law, unlike those in the offshore betting segment