Bulls displayed their power into the New Year, pushing the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange higher for the year to date and 1.6 percent for the past week. The Junior Market slipped by a mere 10 points for the week and dipped 0.5 percent for the year to date.
The week’s movement resulted in just two stocks rising and 8 falling, with five suffering big losses in the Junior Market ICTOP10. The performance of the Main Market ICTOP10 was in sharp contrast to the Junior Market, as five stocks gained and only two declined. The All JSE TOP10, compiled from all listed ordinary stocks on the JSE, had two changes. Key Insurance returns to the All JSETOP10 following a week’s absence and Access Financial returns, replacing JMMB Group and Pulse Investments, with earnings for both revised downward, following the release of September results.
Guardian Holdings with the potential to gain 433 percent continues to hold the number one spot with 138 Student Living at number 2 in the All JSE ICTOP10 for a seventh week. Elite Diagnostics holds the number one spot in the Junior Market TOP10 followed by AMG Packaging and Caribbean Cream.
In the Junior Market IC TOP10, Iron Rock Insurance was the only stock with a noteable gain, with the price rising 19 percent to $4.29. Lumber Depot dropped 22 percent to $2.08, Caribbean Flavours dived 14 percent to end trading at $1.20, Caribbean Assurance shed 13 percent to end at 2.51 and Express Catering fell 11 percent to $3.01.
JMMB Group and Pulse Investments both fell from the Main Market ICTOP10 and were replaced by Lasco Distributors and Caribbean Producers. There are no changes to the Junior Market ICTOP10 listing.
In Main Market ICTOP10 activity, Margaritaville rallied 14 percent to $14.20, Key Insurance gained 13 percent after ending at $2.44, Berger Paints gained 10 percent to close at $8.55 and could go higher in the coming weeks with limited supplies on offer under $12 and also has limited buying interest, QWI Investments rose 8 percent to 86 cents and seems poised to move higher this coming week, with stock on offer being limited below $1and Scotia Group rose 4 percent to $54.50. Pulse Investments dropped 8 percent to $1.08.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at just 5.6, well below the market average of 14.9 and the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 7.5, more than half of the market, with an average of 13.
The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 271 percent by May 2025 based on earnings forecast for 2024, providing better values than the Junior Market with the potential to gain 180 percent over the same period.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, there are 18 stocks with the highest values representing 35 percent of the Main Market have PEs between 15 to 108, with an average of 28 and 22 excluding the highest PE ratios and a PE of 25 for the top half of the market with the highest values and 19 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
In the Junior Market IC TOP10 are 15 stocks, 31 percent of the market, with PEs ranging from 15 to 32 with an average of 20 and a PE of 18 for half of the market with the highest PEs.
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