Shares of a pharmaceutical company tumbled 8.5percent on Thursday’s early trades to reach an intraday low of ₹ 815.60 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after 12.85percent of the company’s equity changed hands in a large deal. At 01:03 PM, its shares were trading at ₹ 839.00 apiece.
MedPlus Health Services is the second-largest pharmacy retailer in India in terms of revenue and number of stores. It has around 4,000 stores across the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Odisha.
Data shows that a combined 1.88 crore shares changed hands on the bourses. The large deal was valued at ₹ 1319 crores, however, the buyers and sellers could not be ascertained immediately.
Reports suggest that PI Opportunities Fund and Lavender Rose Investment Ltd were planning to pare a nearly 8 per cent stake in the company. At the end of the June quarter, PI Opportunities fund held a 14.11 per cent stake in the company, while Lavender Rose had a 17.24 per cent stake in the company. They were one of the early inventors in Med Plus and had held a 22.07 per cent and a 24.58 per cent stake in it.
In the past year, the company’s share price rose by 13.61 per cent to ₹ 839.00 apiece. Its 52-week high is at ₹ 978.00, while its 52-week low is at ₹548.25 apiece.
With a market capitalization of ₹ 10,638 crores, Med Plus is a small-cap company. It has a low return on equity of 5.44 per cent and an ideal debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Its shares were trading at a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 211.30, which is higher than the industry P/E of 101.17, indicating that the stock might be overvalued as compared to its peers.
As per the company’s shareholding pattern, retail investors hold a 41.09 per cent stake in it, followed by promoters with 40.43 per cent, mutual funds with 12.41 per cent, foreign institutions with 4.87 per cent and other domestic institutions with 1.20 per cent.
Written by Simran Bafna
