Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market bounced for a second consecutive day on Monday, with the volume of stocks traded rising 10 percent, valued 32 percent less than on Friday, with trading in 58 securities compared with 53 on Friday, with 24 rising, 20 declining and 14 ending unchanged.
The All Jamaican Composite Index advanced 2,765.06 points to end at 364,418.69, the JSE Main Index rose 1,421.14 points to 329,373.77 and the JSE Financial Index inched 0.18 points higher to 73.11.
A total of 15,466,316 shares were traded for $140,081,944 compared to 14,036,554 units at $205,125,008 on Friday.
Trading averaged 266,661 shares at $2,415,206 compared with 264,841 shares at $3,870,283 on Friday and month to date, an average of 345,216 units at $4,820,865, down from 349,982 units at $4,966,815 on the previous day. May closed with an average of 226,361 units at $1,362,447.
Wigton Windfarm led trading with 4.20 million shares for 27.2 percent of total volume, followed by Transjamaican Highway with 2.71 million units for 17.5 percent of the day’s trade, Supreme Ventures ended with 2.07 million units for 13.4 percent market share and QWI Investments with 1.03 million units for 6.7 percent of the overall volume.
The PE Ratio, a formula used to compute appropriate stock values, averages 13.4 for the Main Market. The JSE Main and USD Market PE ratios are computed based on the last traded prices and earnings forecasts by ICInsider.com for companies with the financial year ending up to August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator was slightly negative, with six stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and eight with lower offers.
In trading, Caribbean Cement climbed $3.10 in closing at $54 after exchanging 65,065 shares, Caribbean Producers popped $2.51 to close at $12 with a transfer of 357,494 stocks, but buyers are mostly under $10 at the close and sellers at $12 and above. What that suggests is that selling pressure has dissipated. Eppley shed $6.50 to $30 and closed with an exchange of 9,577 units, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund increased $2.45 to end at $41 with 56 stock units crossing the exchange, First Rock Real Estate rallied 99 cents to $10.30 with 65 units clearing the market. GraceKennedy fell 50 cents to close at $76.50 in switching ownership of 43,356 stock units, Jamaica Broilers gained $2.30 in closing at $37.30 with an exchange of 358,896 stocks, Jamaica Producers declined 50 cents to $20 after investors ended up trading 24,031 shares. 
Jamaica Stock Exchange advanced 64 cents to $12.09 after a transfer of 13,139 stock units, JMMB Group rose $2.46 to end at $31.46 in an exchange of 553,620 stocks, Kingston Properties climbed 57 cents to close at $7.70 while exchanging 109,567 units. Kingston Wharves rose $1.15 in closing at $29.95 as 7,155 shares passed through the market, Margaritaville dropped $3.71 and ended at $14.60 with investors trading 24 stocks, Massy Holdings dipped $1 to $101, with 395 stock units crossing the market. Pan Jamaica popped $2.28 to end at $50.28 as investors exchanged 10,292 units, Portland JSX rose $1.25 in closing at $11 in an exchange of 30,000 shares. Proven Investments gained 50 cents to $25.80 with stakeholders exchanging 51,318 shares, Scotia Group rallied $1.35 to end at $34 after an exchange of 160,437 stocks, Supreme Ventures lost 50 cents in ending at $26, with 2,067,664 units crossing the market and Sygnus Credit Investments increased $1.80 to close at $14.40 changing hands 772,349 stock units.
In the preference segment, Jamaica Public Service 7% dropped $2.28 in closing at $46.39 while trading 1,283 stocks, JMMB Group 7% preference share fell 30 cents to $1.70 with shareholders swapping 21,434 shares and 138 Student Living preference share lost $7 to end at $81 after 41 stock units passed through the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Archives for June 2023
Junior Market risers and losers shared honours
Trading closed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Monday, with the recent star Stationery and Office Supplies falling back sharply from the high of $35 it reached last week down to $25.50 as the volume of stocks traded declining 19 percent with a 39 percent lower value than Friday with 45 securities trading compared with 43 on Friday and ended with 18 rising, 18 declining and nine closing unchanged.
At the close, 6,499,546 shares were traded for $18,510,251, down from 8,041,831 units at $30,510,717 on Friday.
Trading averaged 144,434 shares at $411,339, compared with 187,019 shares at $709,552 on Friday with the month to date, averaging 187,756 units at $586,780 compared with 190,394 stock units at $597,463 on the previous day. Trading in May averaged 239,954 units at $648,811.
Image Plus Consultants led trading with 1.29 million shares for 19.9 percent of total volume followed by ONE on ONE Educational with 680,010 units for 10.5 percent of the day’s trade and Mailpac Group with 572,408 units for 8.8 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index popped 13.44 points to close at 3,955.91 and is now down less than one percent for the year to date and up 10 percent since the low in March and is fraction adrift of the 3,963.89 points reached on February 17, the previous high.
The PE Ratio a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 11.2. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are computed using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging lost 37 cents in closing at $2.29 with a transfer of 1,275 shares, Cargo Handlers fell 9 cents to $22, with 4 stock units changing hands, Caribbean Assurance Brokers dropped 65 cents to end at $3.35 while exchanging 15,496 stocks. Caribbean Cream rallied 70 cents to end at $4.70 with an exchange of 11,619 units, 
Consolidated Bakeries gained 23 cents to close at $2.42 after 3,344 shares crossed the exchange, Dolphin Cove rose 97 cents in closing at $16.97 as 11,757 units passed through the market. Elite Diagnostic climbed 13 cents to $2.35 in an exchange of 208,580 stocks, GWest Corporation advanced 10 cents to close at $1.03 after 86 stock units changed hands, Honey Bun dipped 14 cents to end at $6.55 in switching ownership of 12,480 stocks. iCreate popped 14 cents and ended at $1.05 after a transfer of 389,514 stock units, Iron Rock Insurance increased 10 cents to end at $2.10 and closed with 2,954 units being trading, Knutsford Express climbed $1.16 to $11.99 with investors transferring 270 shares. Lasco Manufacturing declined 38 cents in closing at $4.52, with stakeholders exchanging 5,357 shares, Limners and Bards shed 9 cents to close at $2.11, with 3,794 stock units crossing the market, Main Event dipped 10 cents and ended at $14.90 in an exchange of 23,047 stocks. 
Medical Disposables popped 19 cents in closing at $4.25, with 4,596 units crossing the market, MFS Capital Partners dropped 15 cents to $2.85 as investors exchanged 17,000 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies fell $2.50 to $25.50 with shareholders swapping 188,272 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Gains for JSE USD Market
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Monday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 20 percent valued 81 percent more than on Friday and resulting in six securities traded, compared to nine on Friday with two rising and four ending unchanged.
Overall, 261,038 shares were traded for US$25,992 compared with 216,689 units at US$14,393 on Friday.
Trading averaged 43,506 units at US$4,332 versus 24,077 shares at US$1,599 on Friday, with a month to date average o 69,315 shares at US$2,324 compared with 70,650 units at US$2,220 on the previous day. May ended with an average of 43,350 units for US$2,759.
The US Denominated Equities Index rose 1.07 points to conclude trading at 222.74.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.6, The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with a lower offer.
At the close, Proven Investments climbed 0.3 of a cent to 16 US cents with investors trading 290 shares, Sterling Investments ended at 1.6 US cents with 149,900 units being traded, Sygnus Credit Investments rallied 0.59 of one cent to 11.49 US cents after 81,535 stocks changed hands and Transjamaican Highway ended at 1.42 US cents after a transfer of 21,955 stock units.
In the preference segment, Productive Business 9.25% preference share remained at US$13, with 12 stock units crossing the market and JMMB Group 5.75% ended at US$1.90 after investors traded 7,346 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Jamaican stocks rally on Monday
Trading ended mixed on Monday, with the All Jamaican Composite Index jumping over 3,000 points and the Junior market hitting a new high since early March, but the JSE Main Index declined with Guardian Holding falling to a new low on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, while the JSE USD Market just edged higher at the close, on a day when the volume and value of stocks traded declined compared with that on Friday.
At the close, the JSE Combined Market Index climbed 1,449.05 points to 343,540.26, the All Jamaican Composite Index rallied 2,765.06 points to finish at 364,418.69, the JSE Main Index climbed 1,421.14 points to 329,373.77, the Junior Market Index advanced 13.44 points to settle at 3,955.91, while the JSE USD Market Index rallied 1.07 points to finish at 222.74.
Preference shares with notable price movements but not in the Main Market TOP10 graphs are Jamaica Public Service 7% dropping $2.28 in closing at $46.39 and 138 Student Living preference share down $7 to end at $81.
At the close, investors exchanged 22,226,900 shares in all three markets, up from 22,079,185 stocks on Friday. The value of stocks trading in the Junior and Main markets was $158.6 million, down from $235.7 million on Friday. Trading on the JSE USD market resulted in investors exchanging 261,038 shares for US$25,992 compared to 216,689 units at US$14,393 on Friday.
The market’s PE ratio ended at 18.6 on 2022-23 earnings and 12.5 times those for 2023-24 at the close of trading. Investors need pertinent information to successfully navigate numerous investment options in the local stock market. The ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the more detailed daily report charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making.
Investors should use the chart to help make rational decisions when investing in stocks close to the average for the sector and not going too far from it unless there are compelling reasons to do so. This approach helps to remove emotions from investment decisions and put in on fundamentals while at the same time not being too far from the majority of investors. Investors who buy when the price of a stock is close to the average will find that they are not inclined to overpay for a stock.
The ICInsider.com PE ratio chart covers all ordinary shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and shows companies grouped on an industry basis, allowing easy comparisons between the same sector companies and the overall market.
The net asset value of each company is reported as a guide to assess the value of stocks based on this measure quickly. The chart also shows daily changes in stock prices and the percentage year to date price movement based on the last traded prices.
Dividends paid or payable and yields for each company are shown in the Main and Junior Markets’ daily report charts along with the closing volume pertaining to the highest bid and the lowest offer for each company.
The EPS & PE ratios are based on 2021 and 2022 actual or projected earnings, excluding major one off items. The PE Ratio is the most popular measure used to determine the value of stocks.
Stocks mostly fall on Trinidad Exchange
The Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange declined on Monday, following a decline in the value of stocks trading but with the volume of stocks traded rising 92 percent and the value 73 percent lower than on Friday, resulting in 19 securities trading compared with 18 on Friday, with three stocks rising, nine declining and seven remaining unchanged.
Investors traded 768,020 shares for $2,289,651 compared with 400,984 stock units at $8,637,659 on Friday.
An average of 40,422 units were traded at $120,508 compared to 22,277 shares at $479,870 on Friday. Trading month to date averaging 19,113 shares at $230,408 compared with 17,647 units at $237,975 on the previous day. The average trade for May ended at 23,500 shares at $216,502. The Composite Index dipped 3.45 points to 1,221.18, the All T&T Index fell 9.26 points to 1,875.98, the SME Index remained unchanged at 68.82 and the Cross-Listed Index rallied 0.39 points to close at 72.83.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with a bid higher than the last selling price and two with lower offers.
At the close, Agostini’s remained at $67, with 2 shares changing hands, Angostura Holdings ended at $23.10 after investors ended trading 106 units, Ansa Merchant Bank fell $1 to $48 with an exchange of 20 stock units, 
Calypso Macro Investment Fund gained $1.05 to close at $21.80 after an exchange of 362 stocks. CinemaOne ended at $7 as investors traded 9 stock units, Endeavour Holdings ended at $12.75 and closed with 500 stocks changing, FirstCaribbean International Bank rallied 4 cents to end at $7.05 as 12,364 shares passed through the market, Guardian Holdings declined 50 cents to $18, with 33,595 units crossing the market. JMMB Group ended at $1.35 while exchanging 450,028 shares, Massy Holdings shed 5 cents in closing at $4.80 with shareholders swapping 6,135 stocks, National Flour Mills popped 9 cents to close at $1.64 in an exchange of 100 units, NCB Financial remained at $2.70 in trading 236,378 stock units. 
One Caribbean Media dropped 1 cent and ended at $3.79 in an exchange of 22,170 shares, Prestige Holdings dipped 1 cent in closing at $7.99 with investors transferring 4,415 stock units, Republic Financial lost 20 cents to end at $127.80 with a transfer of 1,176 stocks. Scotiabank shed 73 cents in closing at $75.77, with 15 units crossing the exchange Trinidad & Tobago NGL fell 60 cents and ended at $17.40, with 420 stock units crossing the market, Unilever Caribbean declined 39 cents to close at $12 in switching ownership of 200 shares and West Indian Tobacco ended at $12.48 after a transfer of 25 stocks.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Carib Brokers gains 54% & drops ICTOP10
The Junior Market was buoyed by strong movement in shares of Stationery and Office Supplies following the announcement of a proposed stock split that turned out to be 9 for each outstanding share and following ICInsider.com report last week that the stock was a prime candidate for a stock split, the stock rated stock to watch in January, climbed 100 percent since the start of the year but pulled back on Friday following profit taking.
Elsewhere, Caribbean Assurance Brokers jumped 54 percent to close at $4 following the drying up of selling stocks being offered for sale. The stock dropped out of the ICTOP10 and is replaced by Dolla Financial. In the Main Market, Caribbean Cement dropped out of the TOP10 with a 3 percent rise to $50.90 and was replaced by Transjamaican following a fall in price from $2.39 to close the week at $2.24 after hitting a low for the week at $2.
The Junior Market reclaimed the 3,900 handle, following the reclaiming of the 3,800 at the end of the previous week and in the process is just one percent below the end of December last year and is close to retaking the 4,000 level, as technical indicators pointing to the market now at an early stage of a big rally in the second half of the year, following a 10 percent gain since the low for the year in March, suggesting a possible gain in excess of 30 percent for the year.
The Junior Market ended with 4 stocks rising and three declining during the week, with Caribbean Assurance Brokers the lead the stock, followed by One and One, that is up 8 percent to $1.12 and Caribbean Cream up 3% to $4, while iCreate dropped 24% to 91 cents and Consolidated Bakeries dropped 10% to end the week at $2.19. The Main Market had only moderate price movement with none exceeding 3%.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main MarketTOP 10 is 5.8, well below the market average of 13.1. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to have an average of 253 percent, by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
The 15 most highly valued Main Market stocks are priced at a PE of 15 to 98, with an average of 28 and 19 excluding the highest PE stocks, 23 for the top half and 18 excluding the stocks with the highest PEs.
The Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 5.8 compared with the market at 11.3. There are 11 stocks representing 23 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 44, averaging 20 that are well above the average of the market. The top half of the market has an average PE of 16, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently. Junior Market is projected to rise by 276 percent to May 2024.
The divergence between the average PE ratio of the Main and Junior Markets and the overall market valuation are important indicators of the level of likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
In the market generally, Investors continue to nibble away at a number of stocks and in the process gradually reduce the supply of several stocks that are attractively priced as the market moves toward the summer months, the start of the stock market year.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2023 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
The Junior Market bull market has started
The Junior Market bull market is here.
A big bull market has started in the Junior Market with clear evidence being shown with the rapid rise in the price of Stationery and Office Supplies from around $15 to $35 just before and after the announcement of a meeting to consider a stock split by the company’s directors but also a quiet 10 percent rally in the market from the March low.
The Junior Market bottomed out at 3,594.67 points on March 23 and has since slowly and quietly climbed higher and reclaimed the 3,900 points level on Tuesday this week, in the process reduced the year to date loss to just one percent, having gained 10 percent from this year’s low.
A large number of Junior Market stocks are showing that the supply of shares on offer has been diminishing considerably in recent weeks while in some cases bids are becoming more solid, signs of bullish movement ahead.
The most telling factors, signalling a bull market, are technical indicators, signalling an imminent golden cross. A golden cross is when the short term moving average crosses over the medium term or longer term moving averages. The Junior Market is at the initial stage of crossing over the medium term average trendline. 
Additionally, the market has broken out of a wedge formation to the upside. Both indicators signal significant upward movement in the Junior Market in the coming months. Importantly, where markets usually sell off after the May financial results are released and tend to go into the doldrums until July in most instances. The Junior Market went sideward in April and May and started moving up in June which is a little bit earlier than would normally be the case in the past.
The last time the golden cross occurred in early 2021, the market went on to deliver a 75 percent increase before topping out. With the average PE of the market at 11 times the current year’s earnings and a PE of 20 seemingly a possibility, another robust period now seems to be in the making.
Increased interest rates seem a factor in the decline in the market, resulting in underperformance from 2022, but rates appear to have peaked and are now expected to decline with inflation being reduced from the peak last year, as such the future looks better than the recent past and that is also supported by a number of companies that have posted good results in 2022 and the first quarter this year.
Jamaica’s remittance inflows drop
Remittance inflows to Jamaica for April 2023 fell by US$17 million or 5.8 percent to US$272 million, but inflows for the year to date are down marginally by 0.9 percent or US$4.4 million over the similar period in 2022 to US$1.07 billion.
April’s decline could be due to the Easter period falling earlier in April this year compared to that of 2022 that was in the middle of the month as such, some inflows may have taken place in March this year.
Remittances amount to 95 percent of tourism inflows in 2022 compared with 167 percent in 2021.
Weekend rally for JSE Main Market
Trading activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market ended on Friday, with the volume of stocks traded declining 43 percent and the value 6 percent lower than on Thursday, with 53 securities trading compared with 52 on Thursday, with 16 rising, 18 declining and 19 ending unchanged.
A total of 14,036,554 shares were traded for $205,125,008 compared to 24,710,357 units at $217,998,595 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 264,841 shares at $3,870,283 compared with 475,199 shares at $4,192,281 on Thursday, month to date, an average of 349,982 units at $4,966,815, compared with 354,979 units at $5,031,174 on the previous day, that is well above the average for May of 226,361 shares at $1,362,447.
Kingston Wharves led trading with 4.0 million shares for 28.5 percent of total volume followed by Wigton Windfarm with 3.39 million units for 24.2 percent of the day’s trade, Sygnus Credit Investments with 1.92 million units for 13.7 percent market share and Transjamaican Highway with 1.11 million units for 7.9 percent of total volume.
The All Jamaican Composite Index popped 45.77 points to 361,653.63, the JSE Main Index popped 2,594.54 points to settle at 327,952.63 and the JSE Financial Index dropped 0.37 points to finish at 72.93.
The PE Ratio, a formula used to compute appropriate stock values, averages 12.9 for the Main Market. The JSE Main and USD Market PE ratios are computed based on the last traded prices and earnings forecasts by ICInsider.com for companies with the financial year ending up to August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows eight stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments dipped 40 cents to $74 with 25,860 shares trading, Caribbean Cement popped $1.40 and ended at $50.90 in switching ownership of 625 units, First Rock Real Estate dropped 54 cents in closing at $9.31, with 119,049 stocks crossing the market, GraceKennedy gained 50 cents to close at $77, with 52,886 stock units changing hands, Jamaica Producers rose 80 cents to close at $20.50 with traders exchanging 890,023 units,
Kingston Wharves shed $1.15 and ended at $28.80 in an exchange of 4,001,198 shares, Massy Holdings climbed $7 to $102 in trading 1,432 stocks, NCB Financial lost 51 cents to close at $67.50 after an exchange of 148,016 stock units, Pan Jamaica fell $2.50 in closing at $48 with a transfer of 5,586 stock units, Scotia Group declined 35 cents to end at $32.65, with 47,726 shares crossing the market and Supreme Ventures advanced $1.30 in closing at $26.50 after a transfer of 143,829 units.
In the preference segment, Eppley 7.75% preference share dropped $1 to end at $19 and closed with 150 stocks changing hands, 
Jamaica Public Service 7% declined $7.33 to $48.67 after stakeholders exchanged 109 units and JMMB Group 7.25% preference share increased 53 cents to close at $4.06 with an exchange of 1,000 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading picked up on the JSE USD Market
Trading picked up on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Friday, resulting in the trading of nine securities up from three on Thursday with one rising, four declining and four ending unchanged, with a 178 percent rise in the volume of stocks changing hands, valued 918 percent more than on Thursday.
Trading resulted in an exchange of 216,689 shares for US$14,393 versus 77,890 units at US$1,414 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 24,077 shares for US$1,599 compared to 25,963 shares at US$471 on Thursday, with a month to date average of 70,650 shares at US$2,220 compared with 74,568 units at US$2,272 on the previous day. May ended with an average of 43,350 units for US$2,759.
The US Denominated Equities Index lost 0.32 points to end at 221.67.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.5. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded prices and projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with a lower offer.
At the close, Margaritaville dropped 1.89 cents to close at 9.22 US cents with an exchange of 221 shares, Proven Investments declined 0.02 of a cent in closing at 15.7 US cents, with 71,726 units passed through the market, Sterling Investments remained at 1.6 US cents after a transfer of 136,752 stock units. 
Sygnus Credit Investments rose 0.8 of a cent to 10.9 US cents after an exchange of 7,775 stocks, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share dipped 0.01 of a cent to 10.98 US cents in trading 19 stocks and Transjamaican Highway ended at 1.42 US cents, with 100 stock units crossing the exchange.
In the preference segment, Eppley 6% preference share ended at US$1.40, with 7 units crossing the market, Equityline Mortgage Investment preference share fell 0.72 of a cent to close at a 52 weeks’ low of US$1 after an exchange of 59 shares and JMMB Group 5.75% remained at US$1.90 in switching ownership of 30 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
