HDFC Life Insurance Company shares were trading at ₹756.50, up ₹6.60 or 0.88 per cent, at 1.15 PM on Monday, after Macquarie upgraded the stock to Outperform from Underperform and raised its target price to ₹900.
The upgrade follows robust premium growth reported by the life insurer. HDFC Life’s December premiums increased 14.55 per cent year-on-year to ₹3,108 crore, according to Life Insurance Council data. The insurer’s individual non-single premium segment, which accounts for the bulk of its business, grew 10.91 per cent to ₹1,396.04 crore during the month.
The stock opened at ₹750.35 against the previous close of ₹749.90 and touched an intraday high of ₹766.50. Trading volume stood at 9.97 lakh shares with a traded value of ₹75.77 crore. Buy orders accounted for 44.09 per cent of total quantity while sell orders comprised 55.91 per cent.
However, HDFC Life’s performance lagged rivals in December. The insurer reported 9 per cent growth in retail weighted premiums, the weakest among listed peers. Axis Max Life led with 27 per cent growth, followed by SBI Life at 22 per cent. ICICI Prudential Life grew 25 per cent in total premiums during the month.
India’s life insurance industry recorded its strongest monthly performance of the financial year in December, with new business premiums surging 39.5 per cent year-on-year to ₹42,151 crore, aided by GST rationalisation on individual policies. For the April-December period, the industry reported 13 per cent premium growth to ₹3.11 lakh crore.
HDFC Life’s total market capitalisation stood at ₹1,63,504.13 crore, with the stock trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.46. The counter has gained 24.68 per cent over the past year.