LIC shares fall 15% in a year, over 70% of portfolio stocks fall up to 70%

India’s largest life insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), has seen its share price slip 15% over the past year, hurting more than 22 crore public shareholders. At the same time, over 70% of LIC’s portfolio stocks are in the red on a one-year basis, with some plunging as much as 70%.

LIC price performance

LIC's share price returns have not just underperformed the benchmarks Nifty (-0.3%) and Sensex (-0.5%) over a 1-year period, but it is worse than the fall reported by the sector. According to Trendlyne data, the industry returns in the same period stood at around negative 7%.


The stock has struggled since hitting its 52-week high of Rs 1,048.90 on the NSE in September 2024 and is currently down 20% from the peak. In March this year, LIC shares hit the 52-week low of Rs 715.30 and have recovered some of the losses.

LIC is trading above its 200-day simple moving average (SMA) of Rs 865, while prices trail the 50-day SMA around Rs 904.

Also read: Oracle shares surge: Oracle shares surge 43%, co-founder Ellison tops Musk as world's richest

While sectors like FMCG and the auto sector have cheered the government's two-slab Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, the enthusiasm has not been mirrored in the insurance sector and the LIC stock. LIC share prices have risen by hardly 1% in a week.

The PSU's quarterly consolidated net profit in the June-ended period stood at Rs 10,957 crore, growing by 4% year-on-year, while revenue during the quarter stood at Rs 2,25,451 crore, recording a 6% YoY growth.

Also read: Saree retailers in south set to raise Rs 20,000 crore through IPOs

Commenting on the current trends and LIC's share price outlook, Anuj Gupta, Director at Ya Wealth Global Research, said that the stock's technical chart suggests a sideways trend. "In the last week, it increased by 2.96% but has corrected by more than 12% in the previous two months," Gupta said, placing strong support at Rs 850 and resistance at Rs 920 levels. He sees the stock trading range bound between support and resistance levels.

"Closing only above 920 levels will lead the rally towards 1,000 to 1060 levels," he added.

Concurring with the views, Nilesh Jain, Head Vice President, Equity Research, Technical and Derivatives at Centrum Broking, also sees a sideways pattern. Placing a support at Rs 850 and a resistance at Rs 920, this analyst sees no clear trend in the short term. But he calls LIC a good bet to 'Accumulate' for the targets of Rs 1,000 in the near term.

LIC's portfolio performance

An Ace Equity data analysis by ETMarkets reveals that 70% or 186 stocks in LIC's portfolio are trading in the red over 1 year, falling by as much as 74%. The analysis pertains to a pool of 266 stocks that have completed at least one year of listing.

Nearly 150 stocks have fallen in double digits, and VL E-Governance & IT Solutions, Flexituff Ventures International, Easy Trip Planners, Jaiprakash Associates, Vakrangee, Siemens and Jai Corp have fallen 50% or more. Thirteen stocks have fallen above 40% but less than 50%. Some of the big names include Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB), Adani Green Energy and IndusInd Bank.


Moreover, 29 stocks have fallen between 40-30% which include the likes of Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), Aurobindo Pharma and Indian Energy Exchange (IEX).

Some stocks are near the borderline, like Punjab National Bank (PNB), Hero MotoCorp, Nestle India, Bank Of India, Titan Company and Bank Of Baroda (BoB) and have fallen in low single-digits.

LIC's bright spots

LIC's investments in 76 stocks (29%) are showing positive trends in the past year. The highest returns have come in Tourism Finance Corporation of India (99% and a 2025 multibagger). It is followed by Laurus Labs, The Peria Karamalai Tea And Produce Company, Care Ratings, Reliance Power, Dixon Technologies (India), Eicher Motors, Navin Fluorine International, L&T Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) with returns between 87% and 33%.


Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki India, Coforge, TVS Motor Company and Bharat Electronics (BEL) are some other big names that have given double-digit returns between 31% and 21%.

The data showed LIC's investments in 312 stocks. We have left out 48 stocks from our analysis because they have not completed one year of listing. Some of the prominent stocks excluded are Hyundai Motor India, NTPC Green Energy and ITC Hotels. Other lesser-known companies like Modella Woollens, Mysore Paper Mills, Simplex Realty and Triveni Glass, among others, have been left out.

The 1-year returns considered are as of September 8, 2025, and the losses are notional, and the percentage fall is not indicative of the overall performance of the portfolio. Moreover, the extent of holding in individual stocks would determine the returns in absolute terms.

The prices could be down because of the current market situation, company-specific developments, tariffs and other external or internal factors that may have impacted the stocks. For e.g. IndusInd Bank stock prices are down this year because of corporate governance issues that the company faced in the early part of 2025. Likewise, Trump tariffs have hurt certain auto stocks like Tata Motors because of JLR's export exposure to the US. These developments may or may not be there at the time of making investments.

(Data Inputs for Ritesh Presswala)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)