The Junior Market closed at record highs on each of the last seven days, fueled by an upsurge in trading, with several days ending with all listed securities trading driving the volume and value traded upwards to levels not seen in months and resulting in several stocks reaching new 52 weeks’ highs.
The Main Market showed some bullishness this past week with the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index climbing 6,525.97 points to the highest level since late October last year. More than two thirds of the gains came on Friday helped by gains by heavyweights, Sagicor Group putting on $1, Scotia Group popping $1.60 and Wisynco jumping $2.25 after reporting strong increased profit for the December quarter.
The Junior Market Index is up a remarkable 16.3 percent for the year to Friday that is more than half of all of the 2021 gains, with the average rise in prices even greater at 19 percent. That quick upward movement is equivalent to an annualized gain of 194 percent and may result in investors questioning its sustainability.
Spur Tree Spices seems to have reached a peak for now but the previously last listed Junior Market stock, Future Energy, gained new life and sprinted to an all-time high of $4.50, no doubt driven by investors’ views that the increased price of gasoline will drive up sales and margins. While sales will rise in dollar terms margin may not. The party was not only for the gasoline supplier, Fontana in the TOP10 for the week ending the 21st of January at $7.40 hit new record highs this week up to $12.49 for an increase of 69 percent in a matter of weeks.
Two high performing stocks pulled back this week Dolphin Cove hit a record high of $30 during the week but pulled back to $22 on Friday while former ICTOP10 listed Caribbean Producers hit a record high of $25.99 earlier in the week, pulled back to $16 on Thursday before closing the week at $17.85. December results should be out for this stock during the coming week and will have benefitted from the resurgence in tourist arrivals.
Medical Disposables gained 12 percent this past week to end at $7.55 and exited the Junior Market TOP10 listing, with Elite Diagnostic having traded at a 52 weeks’ high of $4.40 two weeks ago and ended the previous week at $3.73, suffered more losses this past week and is back to the TOP10. In the Main Market, Scotia Group rose nine percent to $37.50 and was replaced in the TOP10 by Jamaica Broilers.
Lasco Distributors jumped 15 percent to $3.73 ahead of third quarter results due out shortly and General Accident moved up 7 percent to $6.50, while Honey Bun and Jetcon Corporation both rose 5 percent in the week. AMG Packaging rose 3 percent to end at $3.70 and so did Caribbean Assurance Brokers that closed at $3.10.
Guardian Holdings climbed 5 percent to close at $575, JMMB Group held on to a 2 percent rise for the week and traded at a 52 weeks’ high of $44.61 on Friday but closed at $41.99. Pan Jam Investment and Radio Jamaica settled with a 5 percent rise for the week, while Proven Investment lost 8 percent to close at US$0.21 and Sygnus Credit Investments slipped 4 percent to $15.23.
The sharp price movements in the Junior Market over the recent past weeks reduced the potential gains markedly, with the average increase projected for the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now at 104 percent versus 114 percent last week and is now lower than the Main Market at 128 percent.
The top three stocks are Caribbean Assurance Brokers followed by Lasco Financial and Lasco Distributors to gain between 114 and 126 percent, compared to 128 and 148 percent, previously.
The potential gains for Main Market stocks moved from 131 percent to this weeks’ 128 percent, with the top three being JMMB Group followed by Guardian Holdings and Sygnus Credit Investments all projected to gain between 165 and 186 percent from 155 and 193 percent last week.
After trading at a big discount to the Main Market for two years, the average PE for both the JSE primary markets has virtually merged just below 17 times 2021 earnings.
The Junior Market closed the week, with an average PE of 16.8 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings and is currently below the target of 20 and now virtually at the average of 17 that was achieved at the end of March last year. The TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of a mere 9.8, with a 42 percent discount to that market’s average. That means there is a lot of room for the TOP10 stocks to run between now and the end of March.
The Junior Market can gain 19 percent to March this year, based on an average PE of 20 that would take the index to 4,700 points. 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 16.4 just 16 percent less than the PE of 19 at the end of March and 22 percent below the target of 20 to March this year. The Main Market TOP 10 average PE is 8.9 representing a 46 percent discount to the market and well below the potential of 20. A total of 14 stocks or 30 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.
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.