JSE Main Market jumps – Wednesday

The Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market recovered all the losses in the leading indices and more suffered on Tuesday, at the end of trading on Wednesday. At the close, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index surging 7,405.57 points to 417,275.34, the JSE Market Index jumping 6,660.37 points to 380,411.56 and the JSE Financial Index rose 1.86 points to 100.72.
The market closed with 46 securities changing hands in the Main and US dollar markets with prices of 15 stocks advancing, 16 declining and 15 securities trading firm. The JSE Main Market activity ended with 41 securities changing hands accounting for 11,610,708 units valued at $178,231,093, in contrast to 17,254,018 units valued at $121,600,273 from 45 securities on Tuesday.
Trans Jamaican Highway led trading with 4.8 million shares for 41.4 percent of total volume followed by Wigton Windfarm with 1.4 million units for 11.7 percent of the day’s trade and Sagicor Select Financial Fund with 785,416 units for 6.8 percent market share.
The Market closed with an average of 283,188 units valued $4,347,100 for each security traded, in contrast to 383,423 units valued at an average of $2,702,228 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amount to 354,034 units valued at $2,919,802 for each security changing hands, compared to 359,042 units with an average of $2,811,232. Trading in April resulted in an average of 1,077,021 units valued at $3,829,201 for each security.
IC bid-offer Indicator│ At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows ten stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and five stocks closing with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 14.4, while the Main Market ended at 14.8 times 2020-21 earnings.
In the Main Market, Caribbean Cement ended at $49.99, with a loss of $1.51 trading 34,732 stock units, Eppley advanced to $16.99, after climbing $1.49 exchanging 188,437 shares, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund closed $1.37 lower to $36.02, in swapping 905 units. First Rock Capital picked up 50 cents to settle at $11.50, with 500 units changing hands, Jamaica Producers gained 50 cents transferring 262,775 shares and closed at $21.50, Jamaica Stock Exchange advanced $1.10 to $21.90, in trading 29,956 stock units. Key Insurance fell 70 cents to $5.50, with an exchange of 34,397 stock units, Mayberry Jamaican Equities gained 63 cents to end at $10, after swapping 15,664 units, NCB Financial Group declined by $10 to end at $140, after exchanging 397,829 shares. Palace Amusement ended the day’s trade $60 lower at $1,300, in transferring 50 units, Proven Investments fell $1 to $35, with 1,284 units changing hands, Sagicor Group picked up 49 cents to finish at $45.49, in trading 84,426 shares and Scotia Group closed at $45, with gains of $1 exchanging 92,849 shares.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

NCB Financial knocks JSE Main Market

The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange declined on Tuesday as NCB financial dropped from $150 down to a day’s low of $140 and was the main stock that inflicted the bulk of the damage to the market index.
At the close, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index dropped 4,151.98 points to 409,869.77, the JSE Market Index declined by 3,680.65 points to 373,751.19 and the JSE Financial Index shed 2.12 points to close at 98.86.
The market closed with 49 securities changing hands in the Main and US dollar markets with prices of 20 stocks advancing, 18 declining and 11 securities trading firm. The JSE Main Market activity ended with 45 securities accounting for 17,254,018 units valued $121,600,273, in contrast to 20,915,712 units valued at $107,984,225 from 42 securities on Monday.
Trans Jamaican Highway led trading with 8 million shares for 46.4 percent of total volume followed by Wigton Windfarm with 4 million units for 23.4 percent of the day’s trade and JMMB Group 7.25% preference share with 1.5 million units for 8.7 percent market share.
The Market closed with an average of 383,423 units valued $2,702,228 for each security traded, in contrast to 497,993 units valued at an average of $2,571,053 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amount to 359,042 units priced at $2,811,232 for each security changing hands, compared to 356,991 units with an average value of $2,844,401. Trading in April resulted in an average of 1,077,021 units valued at $3,829,201 for each security.
IC bid-offer Indicator│ At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows nine stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and seven stocks closing with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 14.4, while the Main Market ended at 14.8 times 2020-21 earnings.
In the Main Market, Caribbean Cement lost 50 cents to close at $51.50, in transferring 9,923 units, Eppley ended 50 cents higher at $15.50 after exchanging 2,060 units, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund added $1.89 to finish at $37.39, with 1,532 units changing hands. First Rock Capital closed at $11, with a loss of 40 cents swapping 5,465 units, Jamaica Stock Exchange picked up 80 cents trading 12,496 stock units to close at $20.80. JMMB Group transferred 158,678 shares at $34, after losing 51 cents, Key Insurance fell 80 cents to $6.20, with an exchange of 97,758 shares, Kingston Wharves jumped $6.02 to $54 trading 60,956 stock units. Mayberry Investments gained 40 cents to end at $6, in transferring 145,068 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy declined $5 to end at $170, after exchanging 1,327 units, 138 Student Living gained $1 swapping 108 units and closed at $8. Palace Amusement ended the day $140 lower at $1,360, with 141 units changing hands, PanJam Investment shed 45 cents to settle at $75.75, in trading 9,717 units, Portland JSX picked up 94 cents swapping a mere five units to end at $8.60. Sagicor Group finished 50 cents lower at $45, with an exchange of 80,664 shares, Salada Foods added $1 to end at $28, in transferring 420 units, Scotia Group closed at $44, with a loss of $1 in trading 95,850 shares. Seprod gained 91 cents to reach $51, after exchanging 27,258 stock units, Supreme Ventures advanced $1.99 to $16 with 685,165 shares changing hands, Victoria Mutual Investments gained 31 cents in swapping 18,768 stock units to finish at $7.48 and Wisynco Group rose 30 cents to $18, with 108,499 shares crossing the exchange.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

SOS & Proven back in IC TOP 10

The Junior and Main Market, IC Insider.com TOP 10 closed the week with Medical Disposables and Stationery and Office Supplies returning the TOP 10, after a week’s absence as they replaced CAC2000 and Elite Diagnostic.
In the Main Market, Seprod rose to $49.99 from $44.10 on limited volume, following robust first-quarter results, to be replaced by Proven Investments.
During the past week, investors pushed the Main and Junior Markets slightly higher than at the close of the previous week, but the message from the markets is that they are both in a consolidation mode as investors absorb results released during the past week.
If history is anything to go by, the market could remain in a period of consolidated until early July when it usually starts a slow recovery.
The past week saw the release of quarterly results with positive gains, the companies reporting sharp increases include Grace Kennedy, tTech, Caribbean Flavours, 138 Student Living, Eppley, Kingston Wharves and Sterling Investments.
The three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 355 to 663 percent by 2021 are Caribbean Producers, followed by KLE Group and Caribbean Cream. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with projected gains of 165 to 213 percent.
This week’s focus: Caribbean Cream released full-year results, after trading closed on Friday, with profits falling 38 percent, from $89 million to $55 million, from a 10 percent rise in revenues to $1.7 billion. Depreciation more than doubled in the year, with an increase of $63 million, to end at $115 million, negatively affecting the results for the year to February. In the final quarter, sales grew 16 percent over the similar period in 2019 and might be indicating that revenues are poised to rise above recent growth levels. If this is, in fact, the case then the company is poised for strong growth in profits going forward.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after this year’s second quarter and up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 13.6 and the Junior Market a mere 8.9, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.4.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 44 percent of the average for Junior Market and Main Market stocks trade at a discount of 38 percent to the overall market. The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 332 percent, for the Junior Market and 144 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. 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.

JSE Main Market closes down

JSE Main Market closes down on at the close on Friday as declining stocks beat out advancing ones almost two to one, leaving the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index down 2,215.55 points to close at 411,473.46.
The JSE Market Index lost 2,003.95 points to end at 375,066.49, the JSE Financial Index inched 1.04 points lower to 100.42 and the PE ratio of the market ended at 14.1, while the Main Market ended at 14.4 times 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with 47 securities changing hands in the Main and US dollar markets with prices of 11 stocks advancing, 20 declining and 16 securities trading firm. The JSE Main Market activity ended with 41 securities accounting for 24,395,591 units valued at $156,997,429, in contrast to 12,358,723 units valued at $97,621,587 from 43 securities on Thursday.
Trans Jamaican Highway led trading with 13.1 million shares for 53.7 percent of total volume followed by Sagicor Select Financial Fund with 3.5 million units for 14.4 percent of the day’s trade and Wigton Windfarm with 3.2 million units for 13.3 percent market share.
The market closed with an average of 595,014 units priced at $3,829,206 for each security traded, in contrast to 287,412 units valued at an average of $2,270,269 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amount to 344,979 units valued at $2,844,401 for each security changing hands, compared to 322,299 units with an average of $2,746,160. Trading in April resulted in an average of 1,077,021 units valued at $3,829,201 for each security.
IC bid-offer Indicator│ At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows twelve stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and two stocks closing with lower offers.
In the Main Market, Berger Paints gained 50 cents to close at $14 trading 125 units, Eppley added 75 cents to end at $14.25, in transferring 5,926 units, First Rock Capital closed at $10.50, with a loss of 80 cents after ownership 22,700 stock units changed. Jamaica Broilers dropped $1 to $24, after trading 71,423 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange finished 50 cents lower at $19, with 12,053 units changing hands, Key Insurance lost 80 cents transferring 148,234 shares to finish at $7.60. Mayberry Jamaican Equities closed 46 cents lower at $8.99, with an exchange of 16,066 units, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy declined by $1 to $175 after trading 1,000 units, NCB Financial closed at $150, with gains of $1 in swapping 82,819 shares. 138 Student Living added 80 cents to reach $8.80, after exchanging 43,495 stock units, PanJam Investment declined by $4 to settle at $76, in transferring 126,313 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 45 cents trading 1,905 units at $7.95. Salada Foods dropped $3.50 to $25, in exchanging 8,263 units, Scotia Group shed $5.38 to close at $42.02, with 85,576 shares crossing the exchange, Seprod closed 49 cents higher at $49.99 after transferring 4,857 units and Sygnus Credit Investments shed 79 cents to end at $18.60, with 27,602 stock units changing hands.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

First JSE Main Market fall in 7 days

Declining Jamaica Stock Exchange securities edged out advancing ones on Wednesday with the value and volume of stocks trading, rising over Tuesday’s levels and leading to the first decline in the market index in seven days.
At the close of the market, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index lost 1,208.25 points to end at 411,204.70, the JSE Market Index fell 981.01 points to 374,795.01 and the JSE Financial Index lost 0.49 points to 100.48.
The market closed with 46 securities changing hands in the Main and US dollar markets with prices of 16 stocks advancing, 18 declining and 12 securities trading firm. The JSE Main Market activity ended with 42 securities accounting for 13,203,444 units valued at $113,823,838, in contrast to 10,234,687 units valued at $74,845,819 from 40 securities on Tuesday.
Trans Jamaican Highway led trading with 4.5 million shares for 34 percent of total volume followed by Sagicor Select Manufacturing & Distribution Funds with 3.9 million units for 29.6 percent of the trade and Pulse Investments with 1.1 million units for 8 percent market share.
The Market closed with an average of 314,368 units at $2,710,091 for each security traded, in contrast to 255,867 units at an average of $1,871,145 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amount to 325,967 units valued at $2,801,767 for each security changing hands, compared to 327,294 units with an average of $2,813,578. Trading in April resulted in an average of 1,077,021 units valued at $3,829,201 for each security.
IC bid-offer Indicator│ At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows six stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and nine stocks closing with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 14.1, while the Main Market ended at 14.3 times 2020-21 earnings.
In the Main Market, Barita Investments fell $1 to $52 in trading 10,659 stock units, Berger Paints lost 50 cents transferring 500 units to end at $13.50, Caribbean Cement closed $2.99 higher at $49.99, with 34,511 shares changing hands. Eppley traded 17,578 stock units at $13.50, after losing $1.50, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended at $20.95, after rising $1.45 and swapping 10,006 units, Key Insurance shed 50 cents to finish at $9.70, in transferring 121,960 shares. Mayberry Jamaican Equities gained 69 cents and closed at $9.49, with an exchange of 10,238 units, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy jumped $20 to $170 in trading a mere 20 units, Pan Jam Investment climbed $2 exchanging 1,256 units to settle at $80. Portland JSX closed $1.40 lower at $7.30 with 100 units changing hands, Sagicor Group added 41 cents to reach $46.40, with 9,447 units passing through the market, Scotia Group ended at $45, with a loss of $3 trading 704,571 shares. Seprod exchanged 41,542 shares at $46.50, after shedding $2.50. Supreme Ventures advanced by $1.25 to $16.25, with 101,618 shares crossing the exchange, Sygnus Credit Investments shed 48 cents to end at $17, in trading 369,311 shares, VM Wealth Investments gained 70 cents exchanging 305,611 shares and closed at $$8 and Wisynco Group added 95 cents to end at $18.85, with 265,968 shares changing hands.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Main Market pushes higher on Monday

The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed higher for the fifth consecutive days, but investors failed to push the majority of stocks with price changes, higher at the close.
The market closed with 48 securities changing hands in the Main and US dollar markets with prices of 14 stocks rising, 17 declining and 17 securities trading unchanged. The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index ended 830.48 points higher at 411,374.54, the JSE Market Index added 751.79 points to close at 374,947.97 and the JSE Financial Index inched 0.16 points higher to 100.83.
The JSE Main Market activity ended with 44 securities changing hands, accounting for 13,635,712 units valued at $96,460,473, down from 15,759,687 units at $268,967,167, from 40 securities on Friday.
Trans Jamaican Highway led trading with 5.6 million shares for 41 percent of total volume followed by Wisynco Group with 1.85 million units for 13.6 percent of the day’s trade and Pulse Investments with 1.6 million units for 11.5 percent market share. Other stocks trading more than one million units were Supreme Ventures with 1 million shares and Wigton Windfarm with 1.5 million units.
The Market closed with an average of 309,903 units at $2,192,283 for each security traded, in contrast to 393,992 units, valued at an average of $6,724,179 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amount to 336,031 units valued at $2,945,387 for each security changing hands, compared to 340,094 units with an average value of $3,082,315. Trading in April resulted in an average of 1,077,021 units valued at $3,829,201 for each security.
IC bid-offer Indicator│ At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows eight stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four stocks closing with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 13.9, while the Main Market ended at 14.1 times 2020-21 earnings.
In the Main Market, Barita Investments advanced to $53, gaining $2 in exchanging 4,850 units, Caribbean Cement fell $2.03 in trading 33,286 shares to close at $49.97, First Rock Capital saw the transfer of 1,540 units at $11, after losing 40 cents. Jamaica Producers gained 35 cents swapping 1,972 units to close at $19.35, JMMB Group shed 52 cents to finish at $33.46, in an exchange of 151,331 shares, Key Insurance added 50 cents to close at $10, with 40,888 shares changing hands. Mayberry Investments picked up 42 cents trading 8,200 units to end at $5.75, Mayberry Jamaican Equities closed $1.10 higher at $11, with 26,000 shares crossing the exchange, NCB Financial Group fell 49 cents to settle at $145.01, in transferring 85,741 shares. 138 Student Living shed 45 cents swapping 16,048 units and closed at $6.05, Palace Amusement fell by $50 to $1,400, with 93 units changing hands, Sagicor Real Estate Fund ended $1.45 lower at $6.50, after transferring 10,367 units. Scotia Group closed at $47, with a loss of 99 cents exchanging 8,863 units, Seprod jumped $3.49 in trading 70,599 shares at $47.50 after the company reported first quarter profits that doubled that of last year and Sygnus Credit Investments fell 73 cents to end at $16.20, with 4,189 units changing hands.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Just three IC TOP 10 changes

Investors seem to be shrugging off some of the recent negative developments in the Jamaica stock market, with their activity moving the Main Market higher by the close of the week and the Junior Market just a few points lower.
The market is moving into a period where prices tend to move slightly downward until early July when it usually, starts a slow recovery, in this regard, first quarter results are going to be important for the market’s direction for a few weeks. Information management presents current and future business developments that will be critical in informing investors.
Developments of note this past week are the reporting of new results, with Barita Investments reporting profit of $1 billion for earnings per share (EPS) of $1.24 for the half year to March, versus 68 cents in 2019. Jamaican Teas with negative EPS of 3 cents after gross profit climbed 33 percent over 2019 out turn. Pulse Investments EPS ended at 12 cents versus 5 cents in 2019 for the nine months to March and Wisynco Group generated EPS of 78 cents vs 61 cents for the nine months to March. General Accident released 2019 audited accounts that showed for the first time the impact of the acquisition of their 55 percent interest in the Trinidad based Motor One insurance company at $238 million.
The Junior and Main Market, IC Insider.com TOP 10 closed the week with Medical Disposables and Stationery and Office Supplies exiting the TOP 10, to be replaced by Access Financial Services and Caribbean Cream, after the latter fell to $2. Seprod replaced Victoria Mutual Investments in the Main Market listing.
The three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 362 to 726 percent by 2021 are Caribbean Producers leading, followed by KLE Group and Lasco Financial. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with projected gains of 173 to 213 percent.
This week’s focus: Seprod released first quarter results after trading closed on Friday, with ongoing operating profits more than doubling from $312 million to $632 million for the 2020 first quarter, with EPS of 86 cents. Revenues climbed 6 percent from continuing operations to $9.14 billion, an increase of $544 million. The big improvement arose from the closure of the sugar manufacturing operations and improvement in profit margin. The Sugar operations generated a loss of nearly $140 million in 2019 and just $15 million in the latest quarter while gross profit margin jumped to 30 percent from 26.6 percent in 2019.  The first quarter results are in line with ICInsider.com’s forecast of $4 per share earnings for this year and put the PE at just 11 times current year’s earnings.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after this year’s second quarter and up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 13.3 and the Junior Market a mere 8.9, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.5.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 44 percent of the average for Junior Market and Main Market stocks trade at a discount of 36 percent to the overall market. The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 338 percent, for the Junior Market and 139 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. 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.

Recovery path for JSE Main Market

The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange continued its winning ways on Wednesday after a brief break on Monday when the market indices slipped and ended with advancing stocks outpacing declining ones three to two.

JSE Main Market showing signs of recovery after falling following BOJ suspension of banks’ dividend payments.

At the close, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index advanced by 2,855.18 points to 401,889.32, the JSE Market Index gained 2,584.67 points to 366,360.54 and the JSE Financial Index rose 0.73 points to 98.09.
The market closed with 44 securities changing hands in the Main and US dollar markets with prices of 20 stocks advancing, 14 declining, including a big fall in the price of Palace Amusement by $1,098 and 10 securities trading firm. The JSE Main Market activity ended with 38 securities accounting for 13,244,349 units valued at $91,265,025, in contrast to 8,751,199 units valued at $77,299,031 from 38 securities on Tuesday.
Wigton Windfarm led trading with 5.2 million shares for 39 percent of total volume followed by Trans Jamaican Highway with 4.6 million units for 35 percent of the day’s trade and PanJam Investment with 600,640 units for 4.5 percent market share.
The Market closed with an average of 323,033 units at $2,225,976 for each security traded, in contrast to 230,295 units valued at an average of $2,034,185 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amount to 362,134 units at $2,453,398 for each stock changing hands, compared to 375,605 units with an average value of $2,531,754 previously. Trading in April resulted in an average of 1,077,021 units valued at $3,829,201 for each security.
IC bid-offer Indicator│ At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows eight stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and seven stocks closing with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 14, while the Main Market ended at 14.1 times 2020/21 earnings.
In the Main Market, Barita Investments added $1.85 to finish at $53.85, with 43,017 stock units changing hands, Berger Paints gained 95 cents, transferring 142 units to close at $14.20, Eppley ended 36 cents higher at $11.36, after trading 2,000 units. Grace Kennedy finished at $57.35, with a loss of 65 cents after swapping 5,983 units, Jamaica Producers advanced to $20.49, after rising $1.49 exchanging 46,968 stock units, Jamaica Stock Exchange fell $1.05 to $20.55, with a transfer of 28,239 units. JMMB Group closed $1 higher to $34, with an exchange of 224,468 shares, Key Insurance climbed $1.94 to end at a new record high of $10.04, after trading 244,878 shares, Mayberry Investments gained 45 cents in swapping 788 units and closed at $5.80. NCB Financial Group advanced $7 to $142, in trading 28,328 units, Palace Amusement dived $1,098 trading just three shares to close at $1,700, PanJam Investment declined by $4.50 to a 52 weeks’ low of $73, with 600,640 shares changing hands. Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed at $7.95, with gains of $1.26 with 800 units crossing the market. Salada Foods climbed $4.50 to $29 in exchanging 1,936 units, Scotia Group gained 65 cents to end at $44.90, with a transfer of 8,399 units. Seprod fell to $44, with a loss of $2.40 trading 15,369 units, Supreme Ventures closed 40 cents lower to $15.10, with 40,810 stock units changing hands, Sygnus Credit Investments gained $1.30 to reach $16.50, after swapping 33,390 stock units and Wisynco Group ended the 65 cents higher at $17.65, with a transfer of 449,719 shares.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

JSE Main Market closed down – Monday

The Jamaican Stock Exchange Main Market shot up 4,787 points within 30 minutes of trading to 405284.40 but failed to hold on to the early gains at the close of the market.
At the close of trading, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index declined by 3,268.96 points to 397,228.54, the JSE Market Index dropped 2,888.59 points to 362,240.86 and the  JSE Financial Index lost 0.60 points to 97.41.
The market closed with 45 securities changing hands in the Main and US dollar markets with prices of 17 stocks advancing, 17 declining and 11 securities trading firm. The JSE Main Market activity ended with 40 securities accounting for 29,595,732 units valued at $155,534,212, in contrast to 6,350,098 units valued at $68,445,442 from 41 securities on Friday.
Trans Jamaican Highway led trading with 13.9 million shares for 47 percent of total volume followed by Mayberry Jamaican Equities with 9.7 million units for 33 percent of the day’s trade and Wigton Windfarm with 2 million units for 7 percent market share.
The Market closed with an average of 739,893 units valued at $3,888,355 for each security traded, in contrast to 154,880 units valued at an average of $1,669,401 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amount to 443,776 units valued at $2,765,181 for each security changing hands. Trading in April resulted in an average of 1,077,021 units valued at $3,829,201 for each security.
IC bid-offer Indicator│ At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows nine stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and six stocks closing with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 14.1, while the Main Market ended at 14.3 times 2020/21 earnings.
In the Main Market, Barita Investments declined by $1.85 to $51.60, with an exchange of 43,168 stock units, Caribbean Cement closed $1 higher to $45.99, in transferring 4,850 units, Eppley ended at $12, with a loss of $3 after trading 13,922 units. Grace Kennedy settled at $58, after gaining $1 and swapping 17,132 units, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed $1.10 lower to $20.50, with a transfer of 43,338 stock units, Key Insurance picked up $1.45 in trading 160,949 shares and finished at a record high of $8.45. Kingston Properties gained $1.65 to end at $6.15, after exchanging 200 units, Mayberry Investments shed 40 cents to close at $5.40, in switching ownership of 74,079 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy climbed $13 to $160 trading a mere 100 units. NCB Financial Group closed at $142.50, with a loss of $2.50 after transferring 115,522 shares, PanJam Investment lost 50 cents to close at $76.50, with 230 units changing hands, Proven Investments rose 49 cents exchanging 11,104 units to end at $36.50. Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed $1.25 lower to settle at $6.50, in swapping 6,438 units, Scotia Group added 50 cents to finish at $44.50, in trading 9,250 units, Seprod ended at $44, with a loss of 85 cents exchanging 6,938 units and Supreme Ventures added 50 cents to close at $16.40, trading 229,782 shares.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Just two IC TOP 10 changes

The week just ended saw investors knocking bank stocks down following the surprise announcement by Bank of Jamaica to get banks to suspend the payment of dividends for the remainder of 2020 and that helped to push the market index sharply lower with some recovery on the last three days of the week.
Caribbean Cement and NCB Financial released first-quarter results in the past week with lower profit than the previous year’s March quarter. As if investors expected the outturn, the stock prices did not seem to react to them.
The Junior Market, after attempting to close higher for the past six days finally did so on Friday a sign that it could be heading higher in the days ahead as it traded as high as 2,478 points on Friday just below the close on April 16.
 The Junior and Main Market, IC Insider.com TOP 10 closed the week with one change each. Dropping from the list are Access Financial Services for the Junior Market and replaced by Stationery and Office Supplies, while Stanley Motta dropped from the Main Market listing and replaced by Victoria Mutual Investments.
The three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 344 to 660 percent by 2021 are Caribbean Producers leading, followed by Lasco Financial and KLE Group. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group, with projected gains of 173 to 213 percent.
This week’s focus: Stationery and Office Supplies fell from a high of $16.35 last august is now trading at a discount of 61.5 percent to that price. The stock had moved from $6.85 in May last year to the high after revenues climbed by 23 percent for the half-year to $639 million to $519 million and profits rose 63 percent from $56 million to $92 million. The half years revenues compare favourably with the $702 million generated in the twelve months in 2016, the year before listing in 2017. Revenues grew around 12 percent from 2013 to 2016, then increased to 17.4 percent for 2018 and 14.5 percent for 2019. The company has an excellent management team that is growth-oriented as such investors can look forward to revenues growing in the 15-20 percent range going forward. In pursuit of this objective, the company is putting in place additional storage facilities to accommodate a robust expansion of sales. Investors should not rule out the possibility that they could expand from acquisitions as well as was the case with the addition of the business making the SEEK brand. While the disruption caused by the Coronavirus could derail the medium-term growth, it will only be a matter of time for management to pick up and return to the pre virus growth levels.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after this year’s second quarter and up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 12.5 and the Junior Market a mere 9, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.3 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.3.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 43 percent of the average for Junior Market and Main Market stocks trade at a discount of 34 percent to the overall market. The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 319 percent, for the Junior Market and 148 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis when new information is received that can affect earnings significantly.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.