Jhunjhunwala & Co backed Star Health rises 3% after premium increases 12%

Shares of Star Health rose nearly 3% to Rs 620 in Monday’s intraday trade on BSE after the company reported a total gross direct premium at Rs 6,612 crore during YTD-October, up 12% YoY.

Segment-wise, the gross direct premium of health-retail grew 20% YoY to Rs 6,090.8 crore during year-to-date (YTD)-October, while the health-group gross direct premium declined by 45% to Rs 420.6 crore during the same period.

Star Health posted a net profit of Rs 93 crore for the second quarter of the current fiscal against a net loss of Rs 170.49 crore for the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

After seven quarters of straight losses, the company posted a profit of Rs 213.25 crore during the June quarter. The gross written premium of the insurer on a YoY basis, grew by 11% to Rs 3,193 crore during Q2FY23.

At 12.32 pm, the scrip was trading 1.6% higher at Rs 612 over its previous day’s closing high of Rs 602.60 per share. The stock has fallen nearly 18% in the last six months, while it has plunged about 22% YTD.

As per Trendlyne data, the highest target for stock goes up to Rs 920, while the average estimate of Rs 767 shows an upside of the potential of around 25% from the current market prices. Out of the 14 analysts covering the stock, seven of them have strong buy and buy ratings, while only six have strong sell and sell ratings and the other one has a hold rating.

Late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his wife Rekha, cumulatively held 10,07,53,935 equity shares or 17.42% stake in the company as of September 30, 2022.

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