Big price movements for ICTOP10

The Main and Junior Markets closed the week slightly lower, resulting in big gains and losses in the Junior Market while movements in the Main Market were more moderate than the Junior Market stocks and surprisingly there is only one new entrant into the top 10 listings, this week.
Scotia Group released full year results with EPS of $5.54 and announced the payments of a dividend of 40 cents per share, with the price hitting a new one year high on Friday. The dividend suggests a minimum payment of $1.60 per share over the next twelve months. Based on historical norms of 40-50 percent payout of profits it should be a higher payout. With the release of 2023 full year results, ICInsider.com switched over to 2024 earnings, with EPS at $7.50. Buying interest picked up during the week. The stock trades at an extremely low PE of 4.8 times projected 2024 earnings and still only 6.5 times based on earnings for 2023. AMG Packaging trades at 6.5 times 2024 earnings with only 58,816 shares on offer at the close on Friday and so is Jamaica Teas, with offers now generally above $2.53, with buyers mostly at $2.30, some selling came in for Access Financial this week, Caribbean Cement also has limited stocks on offer and so does Seprod.
Three Junior Market stocks gained 9 to 21 percent and three ended with 10 to 20 percent losses, while the Main Market had two stocks with worthwhile gains of 9 and 13 percent and three with sizable losses of 6 to 11 percent.
The Main Market ICTOP10 ended with, Key Insurance popping 13 percent to $2.49 and Scotia Group up 9 percent, while General Accident declined 11 percent to $4.50, Palace Amusement down 8 percent to $1.19 and Caribbean Producers lost 6 percent to close at $8.50.
The Junior Market ended, with Iron Rock Insurance jumping 21 percent to $2.50, followed by Lasco Distributors and Lasco Manufacturing rising 9 percent each to $3.93 and $4.63 respectively. AMG Packaging dropped 20 percent to $2.30, Caribbean Cream and Jamaica Teas fell 10 percent to $3.31 and $2.30 respectively.
Tropical Battery dropped out of the Junior Market ICTOP10 and is replaced by Elite Diagnostic. There were no changes in the IC Main Market TOP10
Indications of where stock prices could be by May 2024 can be seen from stocks with the highest values in the Main and Junior Markets.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at 5.1, well below the market average of 12.8. The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 299 percent by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings and now provides better values than the Junior Market with the potential to gain 204 percent over the same time frame.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 15 of the most highly valued stocks representing 31 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 108, with an average of 28 and 18 excluding the highest PE ratios and a PE of 23 for the top half and 16 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
The PE of the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 6.8, over half of the market, with an average of 13.2. There are 13 stocks, or 27 percent of the market, with PEs from b>15 to 50, averaging 21, well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 18, possibly the lowest fair value for stocks.
Of great import is that the averages of both markets are now converging around a PE of 20 for close to a third of the market, as the year is coming to a close and with more information available on the full year’s earnings.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but this is not always so. 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 will likely deliver the best returns on or around May 2024 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.