Vijay Kedia picks another 7% stake in smallcap auto stock

NEW DELHI: Mumbai's star investor Vijay Kedia has picked up another 7.05% stake in smallcap Atul Auto by converting warrants into equity shares.

According to disclosures made to stock exchanges, Kedia acquired 16,83,502 shares of the company on March 15. Before the acquisition, he held a 1.5% stake and his total shareholding in the auto company has gone up to 8.43%.

In October last year, Atul Auto had allotted 50,50,505 fully convertible warrants at a price of Rs 198 per share to the value investor. The warrants can be converted into equity shares within 18 months from the date of allotment.

Shares of the Rs 700 crore company ended 0.36% lower at Rs 321.15 on Friday. In the last one year, the stock has rallied over 86%. From its 52-week low of Rs 145.10, the stock is up about 112%.

The Rajkot-based Atul Auto had recently forayed into the electric vehicles (EV) space by launching cargo and passenger variants of electric three-wheelers at the Auto Expo.

“The company is in the right place at the right time and with the right products. The (EV) trend has just started. I am confident that Atul Auto has made India’s Tesla in three-wheelers,” Kedia had told ETMarkets earlier.

The highest target price for the stock goes up to Rs 380, while the average target price estimate is Rs 303, which shows a downside of 5.5% from the current market prices, Trendlyne data shows.

The consensus recommendation from 3 analysts for Atul Auto is a strong buy.

Kedia, known for spotting multibaggers at an early stage, publicly holds 15 stocks with a net worth estimated at over Rs 650 crore. Top bets include Tejas Networks, Vaibhav Global, Elecon Engineering and Mahindra Holidays.