Recent IPOs Where Promoters Increased Skin in the Game

It's a time of the year where the quarterly results will be reported. Company managements will issue commentaries outlining future plans and growth.

While many investors will look out for such commentaries, an astute way of investing is to also look for promoters who "put their money where their mouth is". In finance parlance - skin in the game.

An increase in promoter stake is often seen as positive but it must be carefully analysed. The reasons and method of increase is stake matter.

If you would like to know more, join Richa Agarwal - Equitymaster's smallcap editor - in an online discussion about promoter buying in Indian stocks.

Points to Keep in Mind When Checking for Promoter Stake Increase

1. How did the promoter increase the stake?

   Type	View
   Open market purchase	Strong positive (skin in the game).
   Conversion of debt/warrants	Check pricing and timing.
   Gift or internal transfer	No real signal.

2. Timing of the increase

   Type	View
   After a major price fall	Promoter conviction or valuation comfort.
   Just before corporate action (merger, delisting, demerger)	Needs scrutiny.
   Near market highs	Be cautious.

3. Source of funds

   Type	View
   Personal funds/dividends	Positive
   Borrowed money	Risky
   Fund by pledged shares	Red flag

4. Is promoter stake rising consistently?

   Type	View
   Gradual increase over multiple quarters	High confidence signal.
   One-time spike	Could be tactical or cosmetic.

Here are 4 stocks where promoters have recently hiked their stake. These are companies that recently came up with IPOs.

#1 Star Health and Allied Insurance Company

First on our list is Star Health and Allied Insurance.

The promoters of Star Health and Insurance Company have increased their stake over the past few quarters. As of September 2024, their holding stood at 57.69%, which has been raised to 58.02% by the end of September 2025.

The late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was listed as a promoter of the company at the time of the IPO. His estate continues to hold substantial stake in the company.

Safecrop Investments India is the largest promoter entity, holding substantial stake of more than 40% in the company.

Promoter Holdings: Sept 2024 vs Sept 2025

Source: Equitymaster

Star Health & Allied Insurance Company is a prominent private Indian health insurance company. The company has 14,000 network hospitals and 850+ branch offices across the country.

On the financial front, Star Health closed H1 FY26 with gross written premium of Rs 88.09 billion (bn), a 12% YoY growth.

The retail health gross written premium grew rose almost 17% to Rs 83.32 bn in the first half of the financial year, fuelled by a 24% growth in fresh retail premiums and very strong renewal persistency of 98% on value in the retail health book.

The profit after tax was Rs 790 m compared to Rs 1,240 m in Q2 of last year. The September profit was impacted by MTM loss, pre-tax of Rs 1,220 m and post-tax of Rs 910 m.

The company maintained its retail health market share at 32%.

Moving forward, Star Health and Allied Insurance is seeing a significant uptick in demand post the GST waiver.

According to the management, the lead generation, the new policy sales, the gross written premium growth in October 2025 are reflecting encouraging momentum.

The company is seeing almost 50% growth in fresh business in October reflecting growth, strong underlying demand and also improved affordability in the retail health segment.

In order to improve profitability, the company has exited from all non-profitable large corporate accounts. Hence no loss from this segment is expected in the months ahead. In fact, the corporate group loss ratios have improved from 94% in last year to 79% this year.

In terms of solvency ratio, Star Allied and Health Insurance is comfortable placed at 2.15 times, well above the regulatory requirements.

The future outlook for the company remains good, thanks to an under penetrated health insurance market, the GST boost, and its leadership status in retail health.

In the past five trading sessions, Star Allied and Health Insurance Company's shares moved lower to Rs 450 from Rs 457.75.

The stock touched its 52-week high of Rs 533.9 on 17 November 2025 and a 52-week low of Rs 330.05 on 7 April 2025.

To know more check the Star Health and Allied Insurance Co fact sheet and latest quarterly results.

#2 Enviro Infra Engineers

Next on our list is the stock of Enviro Infra Engineers.

The promoters of the company include Manish Jain, Ritu Jain, and Shachi Jain. The promoters hiked their stake in the company over the past few quarters.

As of December 2024, their holding stood at 70.02%, which has been raised to 70.13% by the end of December 2025. The promoters already held a high stake in the company before the purchase.

Promoter Holdings: Dec 2024 vs Dec 2025

Source: Equitymaster

Enviro Infra Engineers specialises in water and wastewater management solutions. Recently, it has entered the renewable energy space.

The firm designs, constructs, operates, and maintains water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, and common effluent treatment plants.

It also handles water supply scheme projects, including pumping stations and pipelines, primarily for government authorities via EPC and HAM models.

On the financial front, For Q2 FY26, revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,270 m, a year-on-year growth of 6.7%, driven by continued traction in key water and wastewater treatment projects.

EBITDA for the quarter came in at Rs 650 m compared to Rs 560 m in Q2 FY25, a 16.8% growth with EBITDA margins at 28.56%. The net profit of the company rose 36% YoY to almost Rs 500 m with a PAT margin of 20.5%.

As of 30 September 2025, the order book of Enviro Infra Engineers was Rs 18 bn, supported by an operation and maintenance portfolio of Rs 9.32 bn.

As of early November 2025, the estimated cost of projects for which bids have been submitted by the company, for which results are awaited, are more than Rs 80 bn.

With new bids in place, the management is confident the company will be able to exceed the guidance of fresh orders of Rs 25 bn in FY26.

The management also intends to gradually increase revenues from the renewables. For the current financial year, the management guided for around Rs 2,000 m in revenues from the renewable sector. In FY27, the management projects an increase to Rs 5,000 m.

As far as the margin guidance is concerned, the company reaffirms that EBITDA margins could be in the range of 22-24% going forward as a whole.

Enviro Infra Engineers shows growth potential due to its order book, government-backed projects, and expanding bidding pipelines in water infrastructure.

While the traditional EPC contracts in wastewater can be cyclical, the entry into renewable energy assets provide stable, long-term annuity income.

In the past five trading sessions, Enviro Infra Engineers shares moved lower to Rs 189.35 from Rs 205.

The stock touched its 52-week high of Rs 309 on 9 January 2025 and its 52-week low of Rs 170.1 on 7 April 2025.

To know more check the Enviro Infra Engineers fact sheet and latest quarterly results.

#3 Suraksha Diagnostic

Next on our list is the stock of Suraksha Diagnostic.

Suraksha Diagnostic is a leading pathology and radiology service provider. It has a strong presence in Eastern India with plans to expand.

Promoter Holdings: Dec 2024 vs Sept 2025

Source: Equitymaster

The promoters of Suraksha Diagnostic are Dr. Somnath Chatterjee, Ritu Mittal, and Satish Kumar Verma. After its IPO in December 2024, the promoters' stake was 48.78%. By the end of September 2025, this stake had increased slightly to 48.98%.

On the financial front, in Q2 FY26, the total income of the company stood at Rs 795.8 m, a growth of 16.9% YoY, driven by higher patient volumes and network expansion.

EBITDA grew by 1.9% YoY to Rs 249.66 m, with a margin coming at 31.7%. The margins during the quarter were adversely impacted by heavy rainfall and floods, as well as seasonal festivities.

Net profit for the quarter reached Rs 88.28 m, compared to Rs 101.56 m in Q2 of FY25. The net profit margin during the quarter fell to 11.2% compared to 15.2% in Q2 FY25.

Despite the challenges, the management expressed confidence that profitability would revert to its previous higher margin level over the next few quarters, as centers gain scale and achieve maturity.

Recently, Suraksha Diagnostics added three new centres to its network, including one PPP, one large, and one small centre. With these additions, the network had grown to 63 centres at the end of September 2025.

The company also launched Suraksha Genomics to provide advanced genetic and molecular testing services. This foray into advanced genomic testing can also be leveraged to deliver prenatal care.

The overall prospects for Suraksha Diagnostics are characterised by a strong expansion-led growth strategy, though this is currently being balanced against short-term margin pressures.

In the past five trading sessions, Suraksha Diagnostics' shares moved higher to Rs 274.6 from Rs 273.

The stock touched its 52-week high of Rs 372 on 9 January 2025 and its 52-week low of Rs 233.15 on 4 March 2025.

To know more check the Suraksha Diagnostic fact sheet and latest quarterly results.

#4 Senores Pharmaceuticals

Next on our list is the stock of Senores Pharmaceuticals.

Senores Pharmaceuticals is an Indian pharmaceutical company founded in 2015, specialising in developing and manufacturing complex generics, critical care injectables, and APIs for regulated markets like the US, Canada, and UK, as well as emerging markets in 49 countries.

Promoter Holdings: Sept 2024 vs Sept 2025

Source: Equitymaster

The promoters of Senores Pharmaceuticals have increased their stake marginally from 45.76% in September 2024 to 45.8% in September 2025.

On the financial front, consolidated income for Q2 FY26 stood at Rs 1,620 m, a strong growth of 61% on a YoY basis. EBITDA for Q2 FY26 was about Rs 500 m, growing by almost 113% YoY. The EBITDA margin came in at 31%. Profit after tax for the quarter grew 131% YoY to Rs 300 m.

In terms of expansion, the company's third manufacturing line at the US facility is to be operational shortly and fourth line sometime towards the end of FY26. This expansion will take the overall US plant from 1.2 bn units to about 2 bn units.

In the emerging market business, during the quarter, the company received approvals for 86 new products, bringing its total portfolio to 394 registered products as of 30 September 2025. In addition, 824 products are currently under registration.

Senores Pharmaceuticals in December 2025 announced the acquisition of Apnar Pharma Private Limited, which operates a USFDA manufacturing facility in Gujarat.

Also, the acquisition of five highly high quality ANDA assets erstwhile owned by Sandoz, transferred from its parent company are currently manufactured at the same site.

According to the management, Apnar Pharma has a current portfolio of about 70+ ANDAs that are either approved or unapproved, leaving Senores Pharmaceuticals with a US$ 4 bn plus of market opportunity in other regulated markets. In addition to the US, the plant is also approved by UK MHRA, and Health Canada.

Senores Pharmaceuticals has acquired Apnar Pharma Pvt Ltd for a total enterprise value of Rs 910 m The acquisition is a major strategic decision for the company, expanding its manufacturing capacity and strengthening its presence in regulated markets.

In the past five trading sessions, Senores Pharmaceuticals' shares moved lower to Rs 813.4 from Rs 856.

The stock touched its 52-week high of Rs 876 on 7 January 2026 and its 52-week low of Rs 440 on 13 January 2025. The stock trades very close to its 52-week high.

To know more check the Senores Pharma fact sheet and latest quarterly results.

Should You Consider Stocks Where Promoters Have Hiked Stake?

A promoter stake hike should be read as a contextual signal rather than an automatic buy indicator.

The most meaningful increases are those where promoters use their own money to buy shares from the open market, especially after a price correction or when the business is approaching an operational or financial turnaround.

Such actions indicate confidence because it involves real capital at risk and no preferential treatment.

However, caution is needed when the stake hike is funded through borrowings, warrants, preferential allotments, or increased pledging of existing shares.

When governance quality is sound and fundamentals are improving, it can signal an opportunity. When these conditions are absent, it should be treated with scepticism rather than enthusiasm.

Investors should evaluate the company's fundamentals, corporate governance, and valuations of the stock as key factors when conducting due diligence before making investment decisions.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. Learn more about our recommendation services here...