Dolly Khanna has turned bearish on the market but added this new stock to portfolio

Chennai-based investor Dolly Khanna, who has been an active investor in the stock markets since 1996, has been rebuilding her portfolio along with her husband Rajiv, who co-manages her stock investments that is now worth upwards of $50 million.

Rajiv Khanna had sold the Kwality ice cream business to Unilever over two decades ago and has been slowly building a portfolio along with his wife since then.

The duo’s portfolio under Dolly’s name typically focuses on small and micro caps with small stakes.

A peek at her portfolio for the three months ended September 30 shows that it went through a major churn. While the overall number of stocks that used to be in the 26-27 range has shrunk to around 22, she added one new stock to the basket after picking nearly half a dozen new companies in the previous quarter.

At the same time, she likely exited four stocks after pulling out from six in the preceding quarter. She also trimmed holding in nearly half of her portfolio firm after pressing on the sell button on a dozen existing companies in the portfolio in the previous quarter. This shows she has taken a bearish stance on the market.

Buy calls

Khanna added just one new stock to her portfolio last quarter: J Kumar Infraprojects. The civil construction company also counts Sunil Singhania’s Abakkus and Mukul Agrawal in its cap table.

The company’s share price has more than doubled over the last seven months and rocketed four-fold since the market crash in early 2020. It had been moving in cycles over the last decade with a peak in mid-2015 followed by a sharp slide and a failed attempt to break out again in 2018 that didn’t last long.

At the current market price, it is again facing a resistance at the same level.

Meanwhile, Khanna appears to have turned cautious as the stock market indices again climbed towards the all-time highs. In the previous quarter, in contrast, she had added as many as six new stocks: Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Manali Petrochemicals, Zuari Industries, Monte Carlo Fashions and Suryoday Small Finance Bank.

In addition, Khanna bulked up by purchasing additional stake in at least four companies: Prakash Pipes, Monte Carlo, Simran Farms and Talbros Automotive.

Flip side

In a bunch of companies notably NDTV, Goa Carbons, RSWM and Suryoday Small Finance Bank, she either completely exited or brought down her holding to under 1%. Companies are obliged to publicly disclose shareholder names to the stock exchanges who own 1% or more in a listed firm.

She also cut stake in a string of other stocks, though she continued to own over 1%. These include Polyplex, Rama Phosphates, KCP, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers, Aries Agro, Pondy Oxides, Chennai Petroleum, NCL, Tinna Rubber and Sharda Cropchem.