On Dalal Street, the tyre manufacturer MRF set a new record on Tuesday when it became the first stock to surpass the Rs 1 lakh threshold. On the BSE, MRF shares increased 1.37% to a new 52-week high of Rs 100,300.
MRF had come close to reaching the Rs 100,000 threshold in the spot market earlier in May by just Rs 66.50, but on May 8, it crossed the psychologically significant figure.
MRF is the stock with the highest price tag in India. The second company on the list is Honeywell Automation, whose shares were sold today at a price of Rs 41,152. Other companies on the list include Page Industries, Shree Cement, 3M India, Abbott India, Nestle, and Bosch.
Despite its high price, MRF is not the most expensive company in India because investors value stocks based on metrics such as price to earnings (PE) or price to book value (PE).
MRF shares were trading at a trailing 12-month PE of 55.2 times earnings. Retail investors frequently confuse the stock's price with its value, leading them to label MRF as the most expensive stock.
MRF has never used a stock split to lower its prices. The Chennai-based firm has 42,41,143 shares in total, with public shareholders owning 30,60,312 shares, accounting for 72.16% of total ownership. Promoters own 11,80,831 shares, accounting for 27.84% of total equity.
A high ticket price often discourages retail investors to lap up the stock. Retail shareholding in MRF, as defined by those with investments less than Rs 2 lakh, stood at 12.73% at the end of the March quarter. Altogether around 40,000 small investors own the stock.