Nifty Midcap 150 P/E at 30.3 in the March fall

A middling reading in a falling month

The Nifty Midcap 150 closed at 20,366.95 on Tuesday, 17 March 2026, at a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34. Its price-to-book ratio was 4.12 and its dividend yield 0.88%.

The index set its record close of 22,606.50 on 7 January 2026 and is now 9.9% below it. March has done much of that: from 21,847.35 at the end of February, it is down 6.8%. The Nifty 50 fell 6.3% over the same sessions, so mid caps have not fallen much harder than large caps this month.

The daily figures, all NSE's own, are on the Midcap 150 valuation page.

Against its own record since 2021

The comparisons start on 31 March 2021, when NSE moved index P/Es to consolidated earnings. That gives 1,225 sessions up to 17 March 2026.

• P/E: 585 of 1,225 sessions closed lower, about the 48th percentile. The low was 21.59 on 20 June 2022, the high 45.80 on 1 October 2024.
• P/B: 657 sessions closed lower, about the 54th percentile. The low was 2.81 on 31 March 2023.
• Dividend yield: 0.88% against a median of 0.87%.

On all three measures the index sits close to the middle of its own five years. The fall has taken it from the expensive half of its range to about the centre, not below it.

The fall came from price; the year came from profits

From the record on 7 January to 17 March:

• The index fell 9.9%.
• The P/E fell 10.9%, from 34.06 to 30.34.
• Dividing one by the other, the earnings behind the index rose about 1.1%.

So this year's lower P/E is almost all price.

The twelve-month view is different. On 17 March 2025 the index closed at 18,037.25 at a P/E of 33.98. Since then the index is up 12.9% while the P/E is down 10.7%, which implies earnings up about 26%. A year ago the index was cheaper in rupees but dearer on earnings.

Against the Nifty 50

Mid caps usually trade at a higher P/E than large caps. The useful question is how much higher.

On 17 March the Nifty 50's P/E was 20.63, so the Midcap 150's was 1.47 times it. Since March 2021 that multiple has ranged from 1.06 (23 August 2021) to 1.99 (1 January 2025), with a median of 1.25. It was lower than that on 800 of the 1,225 sessions, about 65%.

Both indices have fallen this year, but the Nifty 50's P/E has dropped further down its own range. Next to large caps, mid caps still cost more than they usually do.

Why 2021 is the starting line

Before 31 March 2021, NSE divided by standalone company profits, and for this index that series was erratic. The published P/E was 19.67 at the end of March 2020 and 145.06 at the end of December 2020.

On 30 March 2021 it stood at 73.56. The next day, on consolidated earnings, it was 40.58, while the index rose 0.4%. Our early-March Nifty 50 post covers the same switch for the large-cap index, where the drop was much smaller.

What this does not tell you

It is not a signal. A P/E near its median says the index is about as expensive as usual against itself. It does not say where the price goes next.

The basket changes. NSE reviews the index's members twice a year, in March and September. A change of members changes the earnings figure without any company's profit changing.

The record is short. Five years hold one sharp fall (2022) and one long rise (2023–24). The median of so short a window is not a fair value.

It is not your mid-cap fund. Funds pick their own stocks and weights, and many hold some large and small caps too.

Where to go from here

The Midcap 150 valuation page has the daily series. For how the broader market has moved this month, see the Nifty 50's correction in March.

To see how mid-cap funds have actually done, the mid cap fund rankings are computed from daily NAVs. The guide on how to read an index P/E ratio explains the arithmetic.