Stocks To Buy Ahead of General Elections 2019

Nobody wants to try and predict the outcome of the General Elections scheduled for May 2019. Even noted Yoga guru, Baba Ramdev recently said, "We can't say who will become the next prime minister (after the 2019 general elections)."

The Congress party dislodged the BJP from the three states of Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, in the recent assembly elections, raising the prospects of a hung verdict in 2019.

Markets are hence likely to be very volatile and investors should focus on a few good quality stocks ahead of the general elections. Here are a few defensive stocks that can have limited downside risk.

Coal India

Shares of Coal India are a good and less risky bet. The company barely faces any business risk and has been declaring dividends, which give you yields that are as good as bank deposits, post tax.

This year one can expect a total dividend of at least Rs 19 to Rs 20 per share. It has already declared a dividend of Rs 7.25 per share. If you buy the shares now, you could get some more dividend in Feb. Assume that you buy the shares at Rs 250, your dividend yield could work as high as 7.5 per cent to 8 per cent every year.

Dividends again are tax free, to the extent of Rs 10 lakhs per year. The company's profitability has been increasing over the last few quarters. The stock is also trading at a p/e of just 9 times one year forward earnings, which makes it an interesting bet.

In fact, for the quarter ending Sept 30, 2018 the company reported a sharp jump in profits. The net profits saw a rise of over eight-fold to Rs 3,085 crore for the quarter to September 2018 compared to a net profit of Rs 370.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

The shares are trading at a p/e of just 8 times one year forward earnings, which makes the stock a good long term bet.

Jammu and Kashmir Bank

This is one stock that has been consistently falling over the last few weeks. At a price of Rs 36, the stock barely poses any risk. The asset quality of the bank has improved marginally over the last few quarters. We believe that it would continue to remain so, as the bank focuses on recovery. One can also see an improvement in profitability in the current financial year, when compared to the previous year.

J&K Bank, reported a 44% increase in its net profit to Rs 146.34 crores for the half year ended September 30, 2018. The Bank had posted a net profit of Rs 101 crores during the first half of previous fiscal.

The stock is actually trading at a p/e of just 8 times one year forward earnings. A good stock to buy at the current levels. The price to book value of the stock is a mere 0.37 times. With slippages at the bank likely to fall, there is a high possibility that we could see the stock rally. J&K Bank also has a very small equity base and any improvement in the profits can send the stock soaring.