Juniper Hotels IPO Lists 1.39% higher, then hits upper circuit

Juniper Hotels IPO opens higher, hits upper circuit

Juniper Hotels Ltd had a relatively flat to modest listing on 28th February 2024, listing at a marginal premium of 1.39% on the NSE but on top of that managed to close with smart gains of 10% over the listing price. The stock of Juniper Hotels Ltd closed the day at ₹401.50 per share, a premium of 10% over the listing price of ₹365 per share and a premium of 11.53% over the IPO issue price of ₹360 per share. Certainly, the IPO allottees of Juniper Hotels Ltd would be pleased at the way the stock managed to open marginally positive and rally further, despite the sharply negative vibes from the Nifty and the Sensex during the day of listing.

The pattern was largely similar on the BSE also, with the stock opening at a modest premium and then rallying further during the day. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the stock of Juniper Hotels Ltd listed at ₹361.20 per share, a marginal premium of 0.33% over the IPO issue price of ₹360 per share. For the day, the stock closed on the BSE at ₹397.30, an overall premium of 9.99% on the IPO listing price of ₹361.20 per share and also a premium of 10.36% over the issue price of ₹360 per share.  On the NSE, the stock of Juniper Hotels Ltd closed the listing exactly at the high price of the day, which also happened to be the 10% upper circuit limit of the stock. On the BSE also, the stock of Juniper Hotels Ltd closed the day exactly at the upper circuit price of the day, after a modest opening on 28th February 2024.

Stock gains amidst big sell-off in the major indices

While the closing price of Juniper Hotels IPO on 28th February 2024 was substantially above the IPO issue price on both the stock exchanges, it did also hit the upper circuit and was locked into the upper circuit at the close on NSE and BSE. What is more interesting is that on both the stock exchanges, the opening price of the day was the low price and the price never went below that listing price of the day, a sure sign of strength. What is more gratifying about the rally is that the sharply strong close on the NSE and the BSE came on a day when there was heavy selling on the NSE and the BSE during the trading day, with most of the frontline stocks closing with losses.

On 28th February 2024, the Nifty closed -247 points lower while the Sensex closed -790 points lower. On both the exchanges, it was more an example of the indices seeing a massive sell-off by the traders. The negative sentiments were triggered by several factors like the persistent FPI selling, the worsening Red Sea crisis in the Middle East as well as the quarterly results for Q3FY24 being below expectations. To add to all these factors, there is also the political uncertainty of the upcoming elections in India, which has already resulted in sporadic rallies in the volatility index (VIX).

IPO subscription and pricing details

The stock had reported modest subscription in the IPO. The subscription was 2.18X  overall and QIB subscription was at 3.11X. In addition, the retail portion had got subscribed 1.31X in the IPO while the HNI / NII portion actually got undersubscribed at just 0.89X. Hence the listing was expected to be relatively flat to negative. However, while the listing was flat, the performance of the stock subsequently showed a lot of strength and character, which is what eventually matters. At the close, the stock managed to close at the upper circuit on the NSE and on the BSE too on 28th February 2024.

The IPO price was fixed at the upper end of the band at ₹360 per share which was anyways along expected lines considering the full subscription in the IPO and the fact that the anchor allocation had also been done at the upper band price. The price band for the IPO was ₹342 to ₹360 per share. On 28th February 2024, the stock of Juniper Hotels Ltd listed on the NSE at a price of ₹365 per share, a premium of 1.39% over the IPO issue price of ₹360 per share. On the BSE also, the stock listed at ₹361.20 per share, a premium of 0.33% over the IPO issue price of ₹360 per share. Here is the Juniper Hotels Ltd listing story on 28th February 2024.

How the stock of Juniper Hotels IPO closed on both exchanges

On the NSE, Juniper Hotels Ltd closed on 28th February 2024 at a price of ₹401.50 per share. That is a first day closing premium of 11.53% on the issue price of ₹360 and also a premium of 10% on the listing price of ₹365 per share. In fact, the listing price turned out to be the low price of the day with the stock never going below the listing price, leave alone gong close to the lower circuit price of the day. On the BSE also, the stock closed at ₹397.30 per share. That represents a first day closing premium of 10.36% above the IPO issue price of ₹360 per share and a premium of 9.99% above BSE listing price of ₹361.20 per share.

On both the exchanges, the stock listed marginally above the IPO issue price but managed to close Day-1 rallying higher to the upper circuit. There are some key points to note here. Normally, the mainboard IPOs have a circuit filter of 20% either ways; but in the case of Juniper Hotels Ltd, the circuit filter was set at 10% either ways. While the stock hit and closed at the upper circuit, on the downside it did not dip below the listing price. The stock traded on the NSE and the BSE in the normal segment with rolling settlement cycle. On the NSE, the stock closed with open unmet buying quantity of 6,57,989 shares, showing a lot of pent up buying pressure for the stock on the listing day. Similar sentiments were echoed on the BSE also.

Price volume story of Juniper Hotels IPO on the NSE

The table below captures the opening price discovery in the pre-open period on the NSE.

Data Source: NSE

Let us look at how the stock traversed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 28th February 2024. On Day-1 of listing, Juniper Hotels Ltd touched a high of ₹401.50 per share on the NSE and a low of ₹365 per share. The premium to the listing price sustained through most part of the day. An interesting trend emerges, despite the Nifty correcting by over 247 points in the day. The stock of Juniper Hotels opened marginally higher but went on to lock itself in the upper circuit for better part of the day. Importantly, the stock never really dipped below the listing price of the day, which is the real takeaway.

For the day on the NSE, the upper circuit price was ₹401.50 per share while the lower circuit price was ₹328.50 per share. During the day, the high price of the day at ₹401.50 was exactly at the upper band price while the low price of the day at ₹365 per share was well above the lower band price for the day at ₹328.50 per share. In fact, the stock did not even dip below the listing price of the day. On Day-1 of listing, the Juniper Hotels Ltd stock traded a total of 223.98 lakh shares on NSE amounting to value of ₹874.75 crore (traded turnover) during the day.  The order book during the day showed a lot of back and forth with the bias clearly in favour of the buyers for a better part of the trading day. The stock closed the day with pending buy orders of 6,57,989 shares on the NSE, showing pent-up buying.

Price volume story of Juniper Hotels IPO on the BSE

Let us look at how the stock traversed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 28th February 2024. On Day-1 of listing, Juniper Hotels Ltd touched a high of ₹397.30 per share on the BSE and a low of ₹361.20 per share. The premium to the listing price sustained through most part of the day. An interesting trend emerges, despite the Sensex correcting by over 790 points in the day. The stock of Juniper Hotels opened marginally higher but went on to lock itself in the upper circuit for better part of the day. Importantly, the stock never really dipped below the listing price of the day, which is the real takeaway.

For the day on the BSE, the upper circuit price was ₹397.30 per share while the lower circuit price was ₹325.10 per share. During the day, the high price of the day at ₹397.30 was exactly at the upper band price while the low price of the day at ₹361.20 per share was well above the lower band price for the day at ₹325.10 per share. In fact, the stock did not even dip below the listing price of the day. On Day-1 of listing, the Juniper Hotels Ltd stock traded a total of 19.07 lakh shares on BSE amounting to value of ₹74.57 crore (traded turnover) during the day.  The order book during the day showed a lot of back and forth with the bias clearly in favour of the buyers through most part of the day. The stock closed the day with pending buy orders on the BSE also, showing pent-up buying.

 Market capitalization, free float, and delivery volumes

Volumes on the BSE were generally lower than on the NSE, but the trend was once again the same. The order book through the day showed a lot of strength and that almost sustained till the close of trading session, with some hints of offloading in the first half of the trading session. The sharp fall in the Nifty and the Sensex did not really deter the stock of Juniper Hotels Ltd from closing strong at the upper circuit on both exchanges. That makes it a rather attractive stock after the strong listing on Wednesday and its ability to sustain gains on a tough trading day. On the NSE, out of the total 223.98 lakh shares traded during the first day of trading, the deliverable quantity represented 104.78 lakh shares or a deliverable percentage of 46.78% on the NSE. This is nearly at par with the median delivery percentage that IPOs see on the NSE on listing day.

Even on the BSE, out of the total 19.07 lakh shares of quantity traded, the delivery volumes stood at 10.23 lakh shares. In percentage terms, this translates into a delivery percentage of 53.66%. This is not only higher than the delivery percentage on the NSE but also higher than the median on the BSE, indicating that the delivery volumes were quite high on the counter, despite the robust intraday volumes on both exchanges. Being a normal rolling settlement stock, even on listing day, delivery and intraday trades are permitted on the counter.

At the close of Day-1 of listing, Juniper Hotels Ltd had a market capitalization of ₹8,840.02 crore with free-float market cap of ₹1,060.80 crore. Juniper Hotels Ltd has issued capital of 2,225.02 lakh shares with a par value of ₹10 per share. The ratio of market cap to issue size (a sign of market liquidity creation) was 4.91X. The company trades under the code (JUNIPER) on the NSE, (544129) on the BSE and is held in the demat account under ISIN (INE696F01016).