< The 2014 All-India Research Team
Abhijit AkellaIIFLFirst-Place Appearances: 1
Total Appearances: 3
Analyst Debut: 2012IIFL analyst Abhijit Akella rises from second place after two years to capture his first top finish on this roster, deposing two-time sector champion G. Vijayaraghavan, who left Batlivala & Karana Securities India in September to join IDFC Securities and falls from the ranking. Tracking ten Indian agricultural names plus a few midcap stocks, Akella, 35, has recently increased his travel and client interactions in pursuit of “new investment ideas,” he says. The effort has proved successful, clients attest. “Abhijit has good channel checks and is always ahead of others,” notes one portfolio manager. Adds another admirer: “He provides greater access to companies that are relatively difficult to meet.” Among the names Akella has added to his portfolio of late is Kaveri Seed Co., a Secundrabad-based producer of corn, cotton and other seeds, as well as micronutrients and bioproducts. In May 2013 he initiated coverage on Kaveri with a buy rating, crediting its broad variety of seed crops and the growing demand for its hybrid seeds. Through late last month the stock more than tripled, on a split-adjusted basis, to 919.50 rupees, gaining 203.6 percent in the trailing 12 months alone and besting India’s broad market by 179.3 percentage points over that period. Akella continues to favor Kaveri, assigning the shares a price objective of Rs980. Another name the researcher prefers is Andhra Pradesh–headquartered CCL Products India, which processes coffee beans. He began reporting on the company in September, giving the stock a buy rating, at Rs97.55, because CCL was increasing capacity utilization and enjoying higher margins as a result of streamlined production. By late October the stock had jumped to Rs123.45, and he forecasts a further rise to Rs150. Akella joined IIFL in July 2011 from JM Financial, where he tracked midcap Indian stocks. He earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Hyderabad’s Osmania University and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore.
