Salada Foods reported earnings of 78 cents for the half year and is now no 2 on the TOP 10.

Sagicor Group fell out of TOP 10 of main market stocks in the previous week, is back, with the price falling from $42 to $38 and Salada Foods surges to the number 2 spot with half year results.
Wisynco joins the TOP 10 after a very long absence as the price dipped to $10 on Friday. The two new listings replaced Grace Kennedy and PanJam Investment, with the latter jumping to a new 52 weeks’ high of $46.01. In the Junior Market there was only one change with Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) climbing to a new record high of $7.50 after positing good first quarter results with earnings per share up 70 percent to 17 cents. Lasco Financial moved back into the TOP 10, replacing SOS that still have much more room to grow this year as profits should hit close to $1 per share for the year and investors could well see a stock split as a result of the rising profit and stock price.
Other changes of note, were the fall in price of Berger Paints to $20 from $22 at the end of the previous week, Caribbean Cement moved to $40.05 from $38.60 and Barita Investments rose to $11.50 from $10.49 as selling by investors dried up. Second quarter results may not be good enough to push the stock much higher but when the growth in other comprehensive income is factored in, the stocks is still extremely cheap.
On Thursday, a number of company results were released with some having the potential to help prices to move forward. On Friday, more results were released with Salada Foods and tTech posting good gains in profit. Salada earnings suggest full year results of $1.80 per share and pushed the stock to the number 2 choice in the TOP 10. Others will come on Monday and Tuesday, investors should be alert to news that they may provide that could impact prices in the short term.
The main market pulled back from record highs reached at the close of the previous week but is now sitting just below that level on Friday, as that market continues to grind its way slowly upwards ahead of the big breakout that is coming.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks ended at 6.2 compared to an average PE for the overall main market of 10 based on 2018 estimated earnings. The main market PE is 7.2 for the top stocks, compared to a market average of 13.
IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 38 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings and main market stocks traded at a discount of 44 percent to the market.
Stocks to Watch this week include, Stationery and Office Supplies that should go higher based on the first quarter results that were released on Thursday. It should be interesting to see how investors treat with the lack of supply of Barita and Berger shares while Palace that jumped $300 on Friday could be pushed when the company’s third quarter results are released this coming week that should see very positive impact of the Black Panther movies now still being shown, although less frequently than previously, with Avengers seems to have taken over from it. NCB Financial pulled back to $95 during the past week and should be another interesting stock to watch as it is undervalued. Grace Kennedy posted decent first quarter results that should encourage more buying of the stock and PanJam Investment is very scarce. Increasing interest in Radio Jamaica pushed the price to $1.20 and is another that could move higher during the week.