YES Bank, Tata Power, IRCTC, Tata Steel, Suzlon Energy, VIL, Reliance Power: How 10 top retail fav stocks fared post elections

Only four out of top 10 retail favourite stocks managed to beat Sensex's return of 11 per cent since the election outcome on June 4. Only one could beat the 20 per cent return delivered by the BSE Smallcap index during the same period. The top 10 stocks, in terms of number of retail investors, offered 3-32 per cent returns, with gainers led by Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL), Reliance Power Ltd, Suzlon Energy Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd and YES Bank Ltd. ITC delivered the least return. 

YES Bank, which has highest number of retail investors among BSE500, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices, saw its shares delivering double-digit return in the one month period. The stock, which traded close to Rs 24 level has risen 10 per cent over its June 4 closing of Rs 21.84. A total of 60.66 lakh individuals with less than Rs 2 lakh worth shares were invested in YES Bank as on March 31. 

Tata Steel, which had 46.46 retail investors as of March 31, saw its shares climbing 11.05 per cent over its June 4 closing of Rs 158.80 level. Another Tata group stock Tata Motors, which had 44.30 lakh retail investors at last count, gained 7.9 per cent during the one month period. 

Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), Tata Power Company and Suzlon Energy Ltd gained 7 per cent, 8.55 per cent and 12.67 per cent, respectively, during the same period. The three companies had 43-44 lakh retail investors at the March end. 

JIO Financial Services Ltd (42.69 lakh retail investors) delivered 5.54 per cent return while Reliance Power (37.87 lakh) climbed 16 per cent during the same period. Vodafone Idea Ltd remained the top performer among retail favourites, as the scrip climbed 31.97 per cent since the election outcome. ITC was the worst performer with 35.90 per cent rise. 

In the case of Vodafone Idea, Citi has upgraded Vodafone Idea Ltd shares to 'Buy' from 'Neutral' and raised its target price on the stock by 53 per cent to Rs 23 from Rs 15 earlier. The foreign brokerage said a discernible shift in stance by market leader Reliance Jio towards monetisation, ease in competitive intensity and the recent tariff hikes that have been at the higher end of consensus estimates are all positives. 

On ITC, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said MOFSL believes ITC's return profile should improve after the demerger of its asset-heavy hotels business. The margin improvements in the Other FMCG business will further enhance return ratios and valuation multiples, it said.

"ITC's capital efficiency may also improve operating cash flow, leading to a healthy sustainable dividend yield of 3-4 per cent, it felt as it reiterated its 'Buy' rating on the ITC stock with SOTP-based target price of Rs 500 based on 27 times estimated FY26 EPS," the brokerage said.