ICTOP10 Stocks

New additions to ICTOP10

A series of third quarter company results were released during the past week, and most reported good numbers that augur well for the stock prices in the months ahead. Some of the results are companies in the ICTOP10. During the week the JSE Main Market rose but the Junior Market lost ground moderately for a second week.
Price movements in the market resulted in two new ICTOP10 listings for the Junior Market and one for the Main Market. In the Junior Market, Dolphin Cove rose 6 percent to $16.50 and AMG Packaging rose 4 percent to $2.44 after trading at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.95 during the week. Paramount Trading dropped 12 percent to $1.48, followed by Everything Fresh shedding 11 percent to $1.56, Iron Rock Insurance fell 9 percent to $2 and Caribbean Assurance Brokers declined 8 percent to end at $2.85.
The Main Market closed the week with Sygnus Credit Investments climbing 7 percent to $11.90, Margaritaville and Jamaica Broilers rising 6 percent to $17.58 and $34.97 respectively. General Insurance dropped 9 percent to end at $5.04.
Lasco Financial and Lasco Distributors released half year results but dropped out of the Junior Market ICTOP10 and Lasco Manufacturing also reported six months results but remained in the ICTOP 10. Following the release of the results, Lasco Distributors earnings were reduced from $1.65 to $1.60 for the full year and sits at number 12 in ICInsider.com rankings. Importantly selling in the stock has been drastically reduced with just 19 offers up to $15.90 amounting to less than 200,000 shares and 19 bids above $4, with the highest bid amounting to more than the total stocks being offered. Earnings per share for Lasco Financial were reduced to 15 cents for the year and holds the 31st spot on the list.
Jamaica Teas also released results for the year to September, showing an improvement over 2022 and disclosed expected improvements from major changes already undertaken, which should improve 2024 results added to that, stocks should do better in the coming year, resulting in exposure of projections for 2024 as such it along with Caribbean Cream are now in the ICTOP10.
Returning to the Main Market TOP 10 is Palace Amusement Company replacing Caribbean Cement.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at 5, well below the market average of 12.2. The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 319 percent by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
An indication of where stock prices could be by May 2024 can be seen from stocks with the highest values in the Main and Junior Markets.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 14 of the most highly valued stocks representing 29 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 108, with an average of 30 and 20 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 5.7, just over half of the market, with an average of 11.9. There are 11 stocks, or 23 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 48, averaging 21 that are well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 17, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, with the market projected to rise by 260 percent on or around May 2024.
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.

Key Insurance leads movers in ICTOP10

The impact on the market with the presence of an Initial Public Offer opening was not very pronounced this time around, with the One Great Studio opening and closing this past week with the issue being oversubscribed, but the Junior Market did experience a sharp fall early in the week that could well be related to investors seeking funds to invest in the IPO.

In the Main Market, Key Insurance climbed 14 percent to $2.88 to be the sole winner of note, while 138 Student Living crashed 6 percent to $4.11, just a fraction above the APO price for shareholders of $4.05, that is projected to raise just over $2 billion. JMMB Group shed 5 percent to close the week at $27.40, making for a compelling long term investment and Sygnus Credit Investments fell 4 percent to $11.47.
The Junior Market ICTOP10 closed the week with Caribbean Cream dropping 16 percent to $3.50, this comes against the background of sharply falling cost for milk solids, one of the significant input cost in the production of ice cream. Caribbean Assurance Brokers slipped 7 percent to $2.68 and Everything Fresh dropped 14 percent to $1.37 and Image Plus slipped percent to $2.05. Iron Rock Insurance was the gainer of note, rising 10 percent to $2.30.
The pending additional issue of 138 Student Living shares kept the price depressed and with the offer coming public with 513 million shares with an option to upsize by 318.5 million units, it will satisfy a great deal of demand and, therefore, put a short term lid on price appreciation. The situation will be worse as the company lacks the ability to inform investors about its operations in a manner that is befitting of a company its size.
Note that Margaritaville is listed on both the Main Market and the USD Market, with similar values.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.1, well below the market average of 12.7. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to have an average of 322 percent to May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
The most highly valued Main Market stocks, representing 32 percent of the Main Market, are priced at a PE of 15 to 80, with an average of 29 and 20 excluding the highest PE ratios, with a PE of 22 for the top half and 17 excluding the stocks with the highest PEs.
The Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 5.3 compared with the market at 10.8. There are 10 stocks representing 21 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 40, averaging 21, that is well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 15, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, and projected to rise by 271 percent to May 2024.
The divergence between the average PE ratio of the Main and Junior Markets and the overall market valuation are important indicators of the likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
The markets are not in a bullish state, but there continue to be cases of slow upward movements in some prices as investors respond to some recent attractive results, leading them to quietly nibble away at a number of stocks, gradually reducing the supply of a number of them that are attractively priced. The list includes stocks such as Access Financial, AMG Packaging, Everything Fresh, Dolphin Cove, Caribbean Cream, Caribbean Assurance Brokers, Lasco Distributors and Lasco Manufacturing, Main Event and Transjamaican Highway.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but not always. 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 up to the end of 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, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.