Insurance stocks mixed bag after IRDAI pushes for 100% cashless settlements for medical claims

Stock market news: Stocks of the prominent life insurance Indian companies, LIC India, HDFC Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, and ICICI Prudential, traded mixed bag in early morning deals on Thursday, a day after IRDAI said that it was pushing for 100 per cent cashless settlements for medical claims.

Debasish Panda, chairman, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), said on Wednesday that the regulator was working to enhance customer experience by bringing in 100% cashless claim settlement. 

"The Councils – industry bodies Life Insurance Council and General Insurance Council — are playing a very prominent and active role in enabling common empanelment and interoperability with hospitals. This will make claim processing of health insurance seamless and frictionless for the policyholders," Panda said. 

ZeeBiz goes through the performance of prominent insurance stocks after the IRDAI vows to enhance cashless settlements.

LIC India

The share of the largest insurance company in India started trading on a high note on Thursday, touching the day's high of Rs 452.80.

The share was trading higher by 0.53 per cent at Rs 451.30 at the time of writing this report. The share hit its 52-week high on Tuesday.

Sebi in a letter to LIC on Wednesday, informed that ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund carried out net sales of 14,54,153 shares of LIC on September 4, decreasing its shareholding by 2.21 per cent as compared to previous disclosure on February 14, 2023, for 7.07 per cent. 

In a BSE filing on Tuesday, LIC also informed that its shareholding in Welspun Corp had diluted from 1,89,68,840 to 1,36,06,752 equity shares, decreasing its shareholding from 7.252 per cent to 5.202 per cent of the paid-up capital of the company.       

HDFC Life Insurance

The share of the insurance company rose to the day's high of Rs 649.45 before slipping to Rs 646.55 in early trading on Thursday.

The firm's share hasn't performed well in the last month, as it has traded flat.

However, its rise in the last six months has been 30.72 per cent.

The benchmark index, the Nifty 50, meanwhile, has also remained flat in the last one month, while it has soared 10.34 per cent in the six-month duration. 

SBI Life Insurance

SBI Life Insurance touched the day's high of Rs 1325.25 before slipping 0.25 per cent to Rs 1314.00.

The company on Tuesday purchased 2.05 lakh shares of Safari Industries through open market transactions at an average price of Rs 3,775 per share, equal to Rs 77.38 crore.

In a BSE filing on Wednesday, the company also informed that Deepak Amin ceased to be an independent director of the company upon completion of his second consecutive term of three (3) years at the close of business hours on September 06, 2023.

The rise of the company's shares in the last one month has been 0.90 per cent while they have risen 16.44 per cent in the last six months. 

ICICI Prudential

The company's share reached as high as Rs 546.10 in early morning deals on Thursday.

The share was trading higher by 0.79 per cent at Rs 543.20 at the time of writing the article.

The company's share has not been faring well for the last one month as it has gone down 6.05 per cent.

In contrast, its value in the last six months has gone up by 33.32 per cent.