Trading closed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Thursday, with the volume of stocks traded declining 35 percent and the value 25 percent lower than Wednesday following trading in 41 securities compared with 44 on Wednesday and ended with 12 rising, 22 declining and seven closing unchanged and ending with the Junior Market Index popping 18.08 points to close at 3,820.10 after two stocks closed on 52 weeks’ lows.
Investors traded 3,568,081 shares for $12,531,088 compared with 5,519,040 units at $16,710,818 on Wednesday.
Trading averaged 87,026 shares at $305,636, compared to 125,433 shares at $379,791 on Wednesday with the month to date, averaging 113,573 units at $287,518 compared with 117,927 stock units at $284,547 on the previous day, well down from October with an average of 361,392 units at $863,984.
EduFocal led trading with 597,842 shares for 16.8 percent of total volume, followed by Stationery and Office Supplies with 457,050 units for 12.8 percent of the day’s trade and Lumber Depot, 380,300 units for 10.7 percent market share.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 11.4, based on last traded prices in conjunction with earnings projected by ICInsider.com for the financial years ending around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial shed 50 cents and ended at $29 with traders dealing in 19 units, AMG Packaging dropped 57 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.95, with 747 stocks changing hands, Cargo Handlers rallied 9 cents to end at $14.49 with investors dealing in 1,000 shares. Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 17 cents in closing at $2.83 while 4,778 stock were trading, Caribbean Flavours skidded 9 cents to close at $1.31 in switching ownership of 8,044 shares, Derrimon Trading fell 8 cents to $1.92 after an exchange of 7,121 stock units. Dolla Financial increased 8 cents to close at $2.48 with a transfer of 157,601 units, Dolphin Cove climbed 97 cents to end at $16.50 with stakeholders exchanging 55,373 stocks, Express Catering dipped 65 cents in closing at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.75, as 124,899 shares passed through the market.
Fontana declined 38 cents and ended at $11 in an exchange of 374,039 stock units, Honey Bun rose 20 cents to $6.65 and closed with an exchange of 1,464 units, Iron Rock Insurance lost 19 cents and ended at $2 as investors traded 100,000 stocks. ISP Finance fell $2.79 to close at $28, with 500 units crossing the market, Knutsford Express dropped 10 cents to end at $12.20 with an exchange of 1,014 shares, Lasco Distributors gained 40 cents in closing at $4.55 with 279,413 stock units clearing the market and significantly sucked out most of the supply of stocks and leaving ten offers on the board at the close with prices from $4.55 to $15.90. Lumber Depot shed 17 cents to $2.50 after an exchange of 380,300 stocks, 
Stationery and Office Supplies declined 8 cents and ended at $1.62 with investors transferring 457,050 shares and Tropical Battery popped 8 cents to close at $1.90, with 9,899 units crossing the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Investors traded 3,189,510 shares for $7,343,915 compared with 3,813,014 units at $7,367,507 Monday.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
Iron Rock Insurance rallied 16 cents to close at $2.19 in trading three stocks, ISP Finance skidded $4.53 to close trading at $26.77 with 620 units crossing the exchange, Jetcon Corporation shed 16 cents in closing at a 52 weeks’ low of 79 cents with investors dealing in 10,586 stock units. Knutsford Express dipped 65 cents and ended at $11.25, with 594 shares changing hands, Mailpac Group gained 14 cents to close at $2.20 as investors exchanged 35,794 units, Main Event rose 94 cents to $14.49 after a transfer of 42,790 stocks. Medical Disposables fell 15 cents in closing at $3.35 after 10,000 stock units passed through the market, MFS Capital Partners advanced 19 cents to $2.15 after an exchange of 99,804 shares, 
Regency Petroleum popped 12 cents and ended at $2.23, with 5,462 stocks crossing the market and Spur Tree Spices climbed 8 cents to end at $2.18 in an exchange of 80,348 units.
value of stocks traded compared with Friday’s activities, resulting in trading of 41 securities compared with 42 on Friday and ended with prices of just 13 rising, 21 declining and seven closing unchanged.
One Great Studio led trading with 775,142 shares for 20.3 percent of total volume, followed by Regency Petroleum with 395,680 units for 10.4 percent of the day’s trade and MFS Capital Partners with 369,439 units for 9.7 percent market share.
AMG Packaging rose 13 cents to $2.48, with 7,500 units crossing the market, Caribbean Cream skidded 37 cents to close at $3.58 with investors trading 1,276 shares. Express Catering climbed 20 cents to end at $4.40 with a transfer of 720 stock units, Fontana popped 30 cents in closing at $11.56, after 21,281 shares crossed the exchange, Future Energy fell 9 cents to $3.42 after trading 75,822 units. Indies Pharma shed 19 cents in closing at $2.92 in an exchange of 815 stocks, Iron Rock Insurance lost 16 cents to end at $2.03, with 13,000 stock units clearing the market, Jamaican Teas gained 9 cents and ended at $2.19 after closing with an exchange of 23,643 shares. Knutsford Express dropped 40 cents to close at $11.90, with 1,000 units changing hands, 
Mailpac Group dipped 14 cents to $2.06 with investors transferring 172,634 stocks and Paramount Trading declined 21 cents to close at $1.47 after 3,581 stock units passed through the market.
Price movements in the market resulted in one new TOP10 listing for the Junior Market and one for the Main Market. Everything Fresh rose 9 percent to $1.75, followed by Caribbean Assurance Brokers, gaining 7 percent to end at $3.10, while the losers include Elite Diagnostic and One on One, down 5 percent to $1.79 and $1.01 respectively, followed by a 4 percent decline in Dolphin Cove to $15.50.
Returning to the Main Market TOP 10 is Caribbean Cement replacing Guardian Holdings, with the nine months’ results indicating lower earnings this year based on the new accounting policy.
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.
Investors traded 7,788,092 shares for $17,379,281, down from 35,689,862 units at $96,708,978 on Tuesday.
At the close, Access Financial increased 50 cents and ended at $25.50 after an exchanging of 3,170 stock units, AMG Packaging lost 12 cents to $2.27 close as 392,855 shares changed hands, Caribbean Assurance Brokers climbed 21 cents to close at $3.10 with stakeholders exchanging 41,343 units. Caribbean Flavours fell 14 cents in closing at $1.29 after a transfer of 18,989 stocks, EduFocal popped 10 cents to end at $2.25 with traders dealing in 2,977,397 shares, Everything Fresh dropped 31 cents in closing at $1.49 after an exchange of 3,889 stock units. Fontana shed 30 cents to close at $11.30 after trading 71,687 stocks, Future Energy declined 9 cents to close at $3.72 while 62,991 units were traded, GWest Corporation gained 8 cents and ended at 98 cents in switching ownership of 25,790 shares. Honey Bun rose 20 cents to end at $6.46, with 10,500 units crossing the exchange, iCreate dipped 10 cents to 60 cents with a transfer of 118,653 stocks, Indies Pharma skidded 24 cents and ended at $2.90 with investors dealing in 6,289 stock units. 
Iron Rock Insurance advanced 17 cents to close at $2.19 in an exchange of 3 shares, Jetcon Corporation fell 12 cents to end at 88 cents after 82,000 stocks crossed the market, JFP Ltd shed 15 cents in closing at $1.46 in trading 250,400 units. Knutsford Express declined $1.42 to $11.32 with shareholders swapping 8,811 stock units, Lasco Financial rallied 16 cents to $2.06 in an exchange of 338,329 shares, Lasco Manufacturing lost 37 cents and ended at $4.55, with 8,493 stocks clearing the market. Main Event increased $1.05 to end at $15 with an exchange of 14,906 units, Medical Disposables climbed 60 cents to close at $3.50, with 1,000 stock units changing hands, Paramount Trading popped 13 cents to $1.40 after 600 shares passed through the market. Regency Petroleum skidded 15 cents to end at $2.30 as investors exchanged 47,740 stock units, 
Spur Tree Spices dropped 26 cents in closing at $2.19, with 47,735 units crossing the market and tTech gaining 30 cents and ended at $2.35 with investors transferring five stocks.
Investors traded 44,475,233 shares for $142,291,683 up from 31,163,597 units at $55,490,400 on Friday as Future Energy led trading with 40.07 million shares for 90.1 percent of total volume, followed by EduFocal with 1.77 million units for 4 percent of the day’s trade and One Great Studio with 758,857 units for 1.7 percent market share.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows seven stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
Iron Rock Insurance dropped 18 cents to $2.02 with investors trading 1,922 shares, ISP Finance climbed $3.69 and ended at $30.47 in switching ownership of 29 stock units, Jamaican Teas increased 8 cents to end at $2.28, with 10,122 units changing hands, Jetcon Corporation gained 11 cents to end at $1.01 with an exchange of 110 stocks. Lasco Financial lost 11 cents and ended at $1.89 in trading 5,755 shares, Lasco Manufacturing dipped 8 cents to close at $4.92 with 52,769 stocks crossing the exchange, Limners and Bards fell 19 cents in closing at $1.79 with investors transferring 27,219 units, Mailpac Group skidded 8 cents to end at $2.22 after an exchange of 121,425 stock units. Main Event popped 20 cents to $13.95, with 34,275 shares crossing the market, Medical Disposables declined 85 cents and ended at $2.90 with stakeholders exchanging 17,634 units,
Regency Petroleum lost 8 cents to end at $2.15, with 66,594 stocks crossing the market and tTech increased 18 cents in closing at $2.05 as investors exchanged one stock unit.
The above set the stage for ICTOP10 Junior Market stocks to post five rising stocks to two that declined, while the ICTOP10 Main Market recorded five modest gains and four losses.
CInsider.com upgraded earnings to $0.40 per share for the current year and that pushed the stock to 5th place on the TOP 10 list. Paramount Trading returns with a depressed price and gains by the two stocks dropping out of the listing.
The PE of the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 5.9, just over half of the market, with an average of 10.8. There are 11 stocks, or 23 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 25, averaging 18.6, 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, with the market projected to rise by 244 percent by May 2024.
Trading averaged 327,064 shares at $635,053 compared to 329,279 shares at $636,435 on Friday with the month to date, averaging 288,574 units at $648,457 compared with 285,783 stock units at $649,429 on the previous day. September closed with an average of 220,239 units at $459,425.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 10.6, based on last traded prices in conjunction with earnings projected by ICInsider.com for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
JFP Ltd shed 8 cents in closing at $1.41, with 467,658 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors increased 17 cents to close at $4.32, with investors dealing in 35,188 stocks, Lasco Manufacturing rose 45 cents to $5 after an exchange of 16,588 stock units. Limners and Bards lost 13 cents in closing at $1.76, with 91,143 units crossing the market, Mailpac Group climbed 22 cents and ended at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $2.37, with stakeholders exchanging 73,614 stock units, Main Event skidded 48 cents to end at $14.01 in an exchange of 72,760 stocks. MFS Capital Partners fell 12 cents to end at $2.01 and closed after 153,971 shares passed through the market, 
Spur Tree Spices popped 8 cents and ended at $2.14 in switching ownership of 21,212 stocks and Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 13 cents to close at $1.62 after investors ended trading 1,467,826 units.
The company did not benefit as much from interest income as would be expected and had adequate funds on hand to expand the loan portfolio, development management indicated they would be pursuing for the rest of the year. Significant expansion of loans could radically transform both revenues and profit for the year. The extent of this improvement is unclear currently, however, the potential suggests that this is a stock to watch going forward as it could surprise to the upside. Lasco Manufacturing is, without question, a stock that is seriously undervalued, but investors pushed the price down during the week. This is clearly one for the future and one that investors should see continuous improvement in stock price over the next 12 months as the company rolls out improved profits in the quarters to come.
The expectation is for profitability to improve during the current fiscal year ending in June 2024. The stock is clearly undervalued and has much room for growth over the next 12 months and beyond. 
The divergence between the average PE of the Main and Junior Markets and the overall market valuation are important indicators of the level of likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 stands at 5.1, well below the market average of 12.2. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to gain an average of 328 percent, by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
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.
