MC Inside Edge: Honey enjoys EIH stay, change of guard chatter in Shalimar Paints, Desi Soros shuffles portfolio, Exide finds new believers

Know what stocks veteran bulls are eyeing.

Checking in

After a lukewarm run in 2023, the EIH stock is seeing a lot of interest from domestic institutions and ultra-HNIs of late. The hospitality story remains hot, supported by a narrative of demand growing faster than supply in the medium term.  Besides, ‘premiumisation’ is the trend across consumer sectors, and bulls argue that the hotel industry can’t be immune to it. Mutual funds Icy Icy and Safe Bank are said to be among the recent believers in the story. As for ultra HNIs, the Honey-tongued fund manager-turned-market mover and the former senior executive at the Silent Investor’s broking firm are said to raking in the moolah. The duo had been aggressive buyers in the stock at sub-Rs 300 levels.

All charged up?

Exide appears to be finding several takers among fund managers after the company’s arm signed a partnership with Hyundai and Kia for EV battery localisation. A section of HNIs have been bullish on the stock for a while now, but fund managers have not bitten so far. A good chunk of the holdings right now belongs to arbitrage funds that have hedged their bet with a corresponding sell position in the futures segment. The stock jumped 17 percent on Monday following the announcement. A rerating appears to be on the cards as more fund managers jump in, but the stock may consolidate near term as early bird HNIs may want to take some money off the table.

Checking out?

Shalimar Paints shares have gained around 15 percent from their lows of March. The stock had plunged immediately after the open offer ended, but there appears to be demand for the stock among HNIs who are betting on an eventual rerating of the stock following the change in control. Managing director Ashok Kumar Gupta and his spouse had tendered a substantial amount of their holdings in the open offer and they have sold some more in the open market after that. This is leading to chatter that there could be a change of guard, which also happens to be Hella Infra’s approach whenever they take over a company.

Flexi-bull approach

Desi Soros may have waxed eloquent on the strengths of oil marketing companies not long back, but he is a firm believer in opportunity cost as well. As soon as the wind began to blow against oil marketing companies following the price cuts in retail fuel, Soros is learnt to have trimmed his positions, and decided to wait it out for a good entry point later on. There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics so they say. Soros has taken this saying to heart when it comes to shuffling his portfolio.