The Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market recorded two weeks of solid gains to close out a disappointing 2022, with the Main Market declining after a promising start, with the market adding 17,123 points in the last two weeks while the All Jamaica added 22,797 points and the Junior Market put on 93 points in the same period, resulting in movements in and out of the TOP10 in both markets.
Junior Market action resulted in Caribbean Cream popping 19 percent to $4, followed by Caribbean Assurance with a 9 percent rise to $2.16, Tropical Battery chipped in with a 7 percent increase to $2.30 and Paramount Trading rose 5 percent to $1.99. General Accident was the biggest loser with a fall of 12 percent to $4.41, Lasco Distributors slipped 8 percent to $2.50 and Lasco Manufacturing declined 6 percent to $3.95.
In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica rose 24 percent to $2.60, followed by JMMB Group up 6 percent to $34 and Jamaica Broilers up 5 percent to $31. The only losing stock in the Main Market is Guardian Holdings dropping 12 percent to $570.
In the Main Market, with the rise in the price of Radio Jamaica, Scotia Group reclaimed its TOP10 spot once more as RJR slipped out after reentering the TOP10 in the previous week, The Junior Market’s Tropical Battery dropped out of the TOP10 and replaced by Knutsford Express.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.6, well below the market average of 15.3, while the Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 6.2 versus the market at 12.9, important indicators of the level of the undervaluation of the ICTOP10 stocks. The Junior Market is projected to rise by 228 percent and the Main Market TOP10, an average now of 269 percent, to May 2023.
The Junior Market has 15 stocks representing 32 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 35, averaging 21 compared with the above average of the market. The top half of the market has an average PE of 18 and shows the extent of potential gains that lie ahead for the TOP 10 stocks. The situation in the Main Market is similar, with the 20 highest valued stocks priced at a PE of 15 to 110, with an average of 33.5 and 24 excluding the highest valued ones and 22 for the top half excluding the highest valued stock.
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, resulting 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.
