Graham Number Screen Flags PFC, GIC Re at 40%+ Discount

Eight Stocks, One Uncomfortable Question The Graham Number is blunt by design. It takes a company's earnings per share and book value per share, multiplies them together, applies a fixed formula, and spits out a price that Benjamin Graham considered the outer limit of what a defensive investor should pay. When a stock trades 40% or more below that number, the screen is essentially asking: why is the market this skeptical? As of 7 September 2026, FairStock data identifies eight NSE-listed stocks in that territory. The list includes [Power Finance Corporation](/stock/PFC) (NSE: PFC), [REC Ltd](/stock/RECLTD) (NSE: RECLTD), [GIC Re](/stock/GICRE) (NSE: GICRE), LIC Housing Finance (NSE: LICHSGFIN), J&K Bank (NSE: J&KBANK), INDGN, Sammaan Capital (NSE: SAMMAANCAP), and Central Bank of India (NSE: CENTRALBK). The headline numbers are striking. PFC and RECLTD both show a 47.2% margin of safety relative to their Graham Number — meaning the market is pricing them at roughly half what the formula suggests their earnings and book value justify. GIC Re sits at 41.8%. These aren't obscure micro-caps. PFC and REC are the two largest government-backed infrastructure lending institutions in India, with combined loan books exceeding ₹16 lakh crore. GIC Re is the country's sole reinsurance giant by domestic mandate. The discount is real. The question is whether it's deserved. Here's where FairStock Scores add texture that pure arithmetic can't. A Graham Number discount tells you the gap between price and a formula. It says nothing about asset quality, management track record, or earnings sustainability. GIC Re leads this cohort with a FairStock Score of 80, and PFC follows at 77. That combination — a 40%-plus price discount accompanied by a score in the upper quartile — is the kind of signal that warrants serious attention, not automatic action. Why Power Finance and GIC Re Stand Out PFC's discount makes more sense when you remember how the market has historically treated govern...