Coal India: Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund buys another Anti-ESG stock

After Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund (PPFAS) has taken another anti – ESG bet — . As per its latest disclosure of 31st May, the mutual fund scheme held 19 lakh shares of Coal India.

The popular mutual fund scheme, which has an asset management (AUM) of over Rs 22,000 crore, is run by veteran money manager Rajeev Thakkar.

ITC is the largest holding with 8.9 per cent in the portfolio of 22 stocks. Other major investments include

& Invest, , , Hero Moto , , and .



The latest entry in the portfolio, Coal India, however, accounts for just 0.16 per cent of the portfolio.

The stock, which comes with a dividend yield of 8.5 per cent, has gained 31 per cent in the last one year. At least 23 analysts have given buy rating on the PSU stock. In the March quarter, the mining giant had reported its consolidated net profit of Rs 6,692.94 crore, up 45.91 per cent from Rs 4,586.78 crore in the same quarter last year.

After underperforming for a long time, ITC, another anti-ESG bet of PPFAS, has also gained 18 per cent in the last 6 months to hit a 52-week high of Rs 282.35 in May. Like Coal India, ITC too has an attractive dividend yield of more than 4 per cent.

Based on the principles of value investing, the fund is known to choose stocks with low debt, high cash flow and those that are quoted at a discount to their intrinsic value.