ITC, Ashok Leyland among top MF buys; here's what else they binged on in Feb

NEW DELHI: As the market turned from bad to worse in February, domestic mutual fund managers made the best of the opportunity to buy some of the names with the brightest outlook.

Data collated by Edelweiss Financials shows fund managers binged on Equitas Small Finance, Motherson Sumi, ITC, Ashok Leyland, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Zee Entertainment and Infosys. They bought 1.76 crore to 6.64 crore shares of these companies.

Shares of some of these stocks have since rallied. ITC is trading with 9 percent gains in the last one month whereas Equitas Small Finance has gained 11 per cent in just one week. Similarly, Ashok Leyland has gained 8 per cent in the same period.

Many of the above-mentioned names were beaten down in January-February. Hence, the valuations had corrected significantly. This attracted buyers on Dalal Street.

At the same time, mutual funds sold some of the stocks that had rallied too much or were underperforming. Moreover, many of them had also seen earnings estimate downgrades in the recent few months.

Data shows money managers sold 1-8 crore shares of Punjab National Bank, Zomato, Tata Power, SAIL, Vedanta, City Union Bank, NTPC and Bharat Petroleum.

Sector-wise, the banking segment was in the spotlight as it saw heavy selling by foreign institutional investors. But domestic funds were seen adding ICICI Bank , SBI, HDFC Bank in bulk but they also trimmed their stake IndusInd Bank, PNB, City Union Bank and Axis Bank, joining foreign investors.

The mid and smallcap segment, which were outright underperformers of the month, saw some buying by mutual funds as well. Key additions during the month were Manyavar, ZEE Entertainment, Lupin, Ashok Leyland, Metropolis Health, IDFC and Barbeque Nation. Meanwhile, Escorts, Voltas, Indraprastha Gas, Indiabulls Housing, Sterlite Tech, and VIP Industries saw selling.