Cargo Handlers exits ICTOP10 with 33% gain

Cargo Handlers returned to ICTOP10 listing last week and was another winner with gains of 33 percent, sufficient to move it out of the top flight Junior Market stocks. The stock joins a long list of high performance ICTOP10 stocks, including the 32 percent gain in Tropical Battery stock in the previous week.
Caribbean Assurance Brokers come back in the Junior Market list, while Sterling Investments makes it back to the Main Market listing at the expense of TransJamacian Highway after just one week, but investors should keep an eye for this one.
In a week when the Junior Market dropped 297 points in three days that pushed the index down to 3,871 points, it bounced on the last two days to close over 4,031, still 137 points from the record of 4,168.16, at the end of the previous week. Meanwhile, the Main Market continues to consolidate around support at 440,000 points measured by the All Jamaica Composite Index.
Recent IPOs JFP limited and EducFocal are set to list on Monday and Tuesday coming following the oversubscribed initial public offers.
During the past week, the Junior Market TOP10 listed Access Financial, Lasco Financial and Iron Rock Insurance gained 6 percent each while Medical Disposables fell 9 percent and Tropical Battery slipped 5 percent. In the Main Market, the primary movers are Guardian Holdings with a 4 percent gain, while JMMB Group fell 7 percent and Proven Investments declined by 5 percent.
The potential gains for the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks remained for a second week at 105 percent, much lower than the Main Market at 127 percent, an indication that the Main Market is undervalued. The top three stocks in the Junior Market are Medical Disposables followed by Elite Diagnostic and Lasco Distributors to gain between 122 and 133 percent, compared to 121 and 126 percent, previously.
The potential gains for Main Market stocks moved from 124 percent last week to this weeks’ 127 percent, with the top three being JMMB Group followed by Guardian Holdings and Sygnus Credit Investments all projected to gain between 168 and 193 percent versus 161 and 193 percent last week.
The average PE for Junior Market has surpassed the average of 17 times 2020 earnings achieved at the end of March last year in moving to 19 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings and is ahead of the JSE Main and USD Markets at 15.7 well off from 19 in 2021. The TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of a mere 9, with a 48 percent discount to that market’s average.
All the stocks in the Junior Market can gain just 5 percent to the end of March this year, based on an average PE of 20. About a third of Junior Market stocks with positive earnings are trading at or above this level, averaging around 23.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market is 21 percent less than the PE of 19 at the end of March and 24 percent below the target of 20 to the end of March this year. The Main Market TOP 10 average PE is 9 representing a 43 percent discount to the market, well below the potential of 20. Around 15 stocks or a thirty percent of the market trade at or above a PE of 19, with most over 20, for an average roundabout 25, suggesting that the accepted multiple is between 20 and 25 times current year’s earnings. The depressed PE of the main market may be indicating that bigger investors are reluctant to be aggressive in buying into the market currently with inflation, rising interest rates and war populating the headlines.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list may or may not include the best companies in the market. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings to highlight winners from the rest, allowing investors to focus on potential winning stocks and helping to remove emotional attachments to stocks that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2022 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on the possible increase for each company, considering the earnings and PE ratios 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 per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.