Graham Number screen flags deep value in lenders and PSUs

The Graham Number screen is flagging deep value in lenders and PSUs as of October 5. [Indegene](/stock/INDGN) (NSE: INDGN) trades 61.2% below its Graham Number, the widest discount on the screen. That's not a typo. A healthcare technology company sits atop a value list dominated by financials and public sector undertakings. [LIC Housing Finance](/stock/LICHSGFIN) (NSE: LICHSGFIN) follows at 55.8%. [Sammaan Capital](/stock/SAMMAANCAP) (NSE: SAMMAANCAP) comes in at 53.2%. [REC](/stock/RECLTD) (NSE: RECLTD) and [PFC](/stock/PFC) (NSE: PFC) both hover near 47%. [J&K Bank](/stock/J&KBANK) (NSE: J&KBANK) shows on the list. [Central Bank of India](/stock/CENTRALBK) (NSE: CENTRALBK) and [GIC Re](/stock/GICRE) (NSE: GICRE) add another layer. The common thread is straight arithmetic: earnings and book value imply higher intrinsic values than the market currently assigns. The Graham Number, pulled from Benjamin Graham's work, multiplies EPS by book value per share and applies a 22.5 ceiling. It's deliberately conservative. So when a stock trades at a 50% discount, either the market is pricing in severe asset quality stress or the valuation has overshot to the downside. Why lenders and PSUs dominate the Graham Number screen The over-representation of lenders isn't random. Rate cycles and deposit repricing have kept bank and NBFC multiples compressed for several quarters. Unsecured loan stress adds another layer. LIC Housing Finance has stayed in single-digit return-on-equity territory while its parent LIC's distribution engine hasn't translated into faster mortgage growth. Sammaan Capital, formerly Indiabulls Housing, has spent years shrinking its wholesale book and rebuilding retail credibility. A 53% safety margin suggests the market still doesn't believe the repair story. PSU financiers REC and PFC show a different problem. Their earnings and book values grow, but price-to-book ratios stay low because investors won't pay for public sector governance and credit concentra...