SBI Returns On Equity Fund Managers’ Radar

Author: Bappaditta Jana

The shares of country’s top lender SBI – State Bank of India are back once again on the radar of equity fund managers. The counter has been ignored by money managers for many quarters in a row. The latest buying in the scrip has coincided with the merger announcement SBI?and its associates banks.

The State Bank of India is among the most-bought by fund managers?in the months of June and July. Put together, they have lapped up close to 60 million shares of SBI, investing a massive Rs.1,350 cr in the banking giant.

Meanwhile, SBI share price was trading at Rs 252.50, down 0.90 per cent on NSE today. The stock hit its fresh 52-week high of Rs 260.40 yesterday.

Fund houses that have shown the most renewed interest in SBI are Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund, DSP BlackRock MF, Franklin Templeton?MF, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund and ICICI Prudential AMCMF. HDFC?Mutual Fund, a dominant and persistent investor in SBI shares, too cornered stocks worth Rs 133 cr recently.

Interestingly, they went on a shopping spree when the SBI counter was trading in the range of Rs.215 to Rs.230 on the stock exchanges. The scrip is up around 10 per cent since then.

As on 31 July, a total of Rs 9,718 cr or 2.43 per cent of the equity AUM was parked in SBI, making the counter the 5th most owned by fund managers.

SBI share price had slipped from an all-time high of Rs.340 to a low of Rs.148 earlier this year. The fall was so sharp and sudden that it deterred fund managers. Instead, they focused on private players like Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IndusInd Bank.

As of now, there are 380 equity schemes that have investment in SBI stocks. The schemes that are heavily invested, in absolute term, in the biggest lender encompass HDFC Equity Fund (Rs.1,368 cr), Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund (Rs.803 cr), HDFC Top 200 (Rs.778 cr), HDFC Prudence Fund (Rs.710 cr), Franklin India High Growth Companies Fund (Rs.447 cr), HDFC Tax Saver Fund (Rs.375 cr), Reliance Tax Saver Fund (Rs.310 cr) and ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Fund (Rs.290 cr).

Dynamic Levels has recognized SBI as part of the top 500 shares group for this quarter. Kindly visit, SBI share price history to learn about the support and resistance levels of the scrip and also its financials.