Trading rises on JSE US market

The volume and value of stocks traded on the JSE US market grew on Wednesday over Tuesday’s level but the number of securities remained the same at three.
Market activity resulted in three securities changing hands, with one stock rising and two declining as investors exchanged 1,171,339 shares with a value of US$270,439, in contrast to 785,696 units for US$170,640 on Tuesday.
At the close, the market climbed 2.22 points to 194.47 and the PE ratio of the market closed with an average of 13.3 times 2020 earnings.
First Rock Capital rose one cent trading 14,547 units to close at 9 US cents, Proven Investments lost 0.65 of a cent to end at 23.35 US cents, in transferring ownership of 1,145,900 shares and Sygnus Credit Investments closed at 13 US cents, with a loss of half of a cent exchanging 10,892 units.
There was no trading in the usual high volume trader, Trans Jamaica Highway which the preference segment was inactive.

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

Proven pushes JSE US market trading

Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US Market on Tuesday resulted in another day of increased volume and value of stocks changing hands well ahead of Mondays’ levels as Proven Investments dominated market activity.  
Market activity resulted in just three securities changing hands, with one stock rising and two declining, leading in 785,696 units with a value of US$170,640, in contrast to 437,566 units amounting to US$61,748 on Monday.
At the close, the market index gained 1.74 points to 192.25, with the PE ratio ending with an average of 13.2 times 2020 earnings.
In trading, Proven Investments rose 1 cent to end trading of 738,859 shares at 24 US cents, Sygnus Credit Investments lost half a cent to end at 13.5 US cents, after exchanging 183 shares and Trans Jamaican Highway closed with a loss of 0.01 of a cent at 0.99 of a cent, with 46,654 shares changing hands.

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

Trading picks up on JSE US market

Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US Market on Monday resulted in an increased volume and value of stocks changing hands well ahead of Fridays’ levels, but the market index slipped at the end.
Market activity resulted in five securities changing hands, with two stocks rising and three declining, resulting in 437,566 units with a value of US$61,748, in contrast to 36,380 units for US$5,752 on Friday.
At the close, the market index declined 6.33 points to 190.51, with the PE ratio ending with an average of 13 times 2020 earnings.
In trading, First Rock Capital shed 1 cent after transferring 4,331 units to close at 8 US cents, Proven Investments lost 1 cent to end market activity, with 236,294 shares at 23 US cents, Sterling Investments gained 0.3 of a cent in exchanging 4,331 units to finish at 2.3 US cents. Sygnus Credit Investments ended at 14 US cents, with a rise of 1.9 cents after swapping 38,875 shares and Trans Jamaican Highway closed with a loss of 0.1 of a cent, with 153,735 shares changed hands.

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

Just two IC TOP 10 changes

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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.

Modest JSE US dollar trades – Friday

Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Friday fell well below Thursday’s level with just three securities changing hands with sharply reduced volume and value.
Market activity resulted in three securities changing hands, with the price of one stock falling, none declining and two left unchanged. Investors exchanged just 36,380 units valued at a mere $5,752, in contrast to 1,628,728 units valued at $25,369.32 on Thursday.
At the close, the market index gained 2.53 points to close at 196.84 and the PE ratio of the market ended with an average of 13.1 times 2020 earnings.
In trading, First Rock Capital rose 1 US cent after exchanging 221 shares at 9 US cents, Proven Investments ended trading 23,330 shares at 24 US cents and Trans Jamaican Highway shed 0.05 of a cent at 1 US cent in exchanging 12,829 shares.
The market closed without any trading activity in the US dollar preference segment.

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

Trading picks up for JSE US dollar market

Volume picked up sharply for the second day in trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Thursday to be well ahead of the improved level on Wednesday.
Market activity resulted in four securities changing hands, with two stocks rising, with none declining and two left unchanged. Investors exchanged 1,628,728 units valued at $25,369, in contrast to just 990,048 units valued at $72,533 on Wednesday.
At the close, the market index gained 5.34 points to close at 194.31 and the PE ratio of the market ended with an average of 13 times 2020 earnings.
In trading, Margaritaville rose 1 US cent after exchanging 1,940 shares at 19 US cents, Proven Investments ended trading 34,758 shares at 24 US cents. Sygnus Credit Investments closed at 12.8 US cents in transferring 5,400 units and Trans Jamaican Highway inched higher by 0.14 of a cent at 1.05 US cents in exchanging 1,586,630 shares.
There was no trading in the US dollar preference segment of the market.

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

Trading picks up for JSE US dollar market

Volume picked up sharply in trading on the Jamaica Stock exchange US dollar market on Wednesday well up on the paltry levels on the previous two days when less than 30,000 shares changed hands.
Market activity resulted in seven securities changing hands, with one stock rising, four declining and two left unchanged. Investors exchanged 990,048 units valued at $72,533, in contrast to just 314,331 shares valued US$4,048 on Tuesday.
At the close, the market index gained 1.40 points to close at 188.97 and the PE ratio of the market ended with an average of 12.6 times 2020 earnings.
First Rock Capital lost 1 cent trading 8,301 units at 8 US cents, Margaritaville lost 2 US cents after exchanging 2,349 shares at 18 US cents, Proven Investments ended trading 270,393 shares at 24 US cents. Sygnus Credit Investments  Investments lost 1.2 cents to close at 12.8 US cents in transferring 100 units and Trans Jamaican Highway ended with a loss of 0.3 of a cent at 0.91 US cents in exchanging 708,835 shares.
In the US dollar preference segment of the market Eppley 5% rose by 2 cents trading 30 units to close at US$1 cents, JMMB Group 6% share traded 40 units at US$1.10.

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

Modest trading in JSE US dollar market

Trading on the US dollar market slowed to a crawl on Monday with just 18,205 units with a value of US$623 crossing the exchange, in contrast to 254,281 units for US$4,685 on Friday.
Market activity resulted in five securities changing hands, with one stock rising, two declining and two remaining unchanged. At the close, the market index lost 3.50 points to 190.18 and the average PE ratio ended at 13.1 times 2020 earnings.
The stocks that traded are, First Rock Capital shed 1 cent to close at 8 US cents, with an exchange of 2,001 units, Sterling Investments traded 200 units at 2 US cents. Sygnus Credit Investments gained 0.01 cent transferring 1,700 units and closed at 12.10 US cents while Trans Jamaican Highway lost 0.1 of a cent to finish at 1 US cent, with 14,204 units changing hands. In the preference market, JMMB Group 6% preference share traded 100 units at US$1.10.

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

Three IC TOP 10 changes

The Main and Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange lost more ground this past week as investors continued profit but left the vast majority of the IC Insider.com TOP 10 stocks holding on the lists.

General Accident is IC TOP 10 focus with an expected cut in MV claims.

The Main Market closed the week with two changes, resulting from down-grading of their earnings. Dropping from the list are PanJam Investment and Sagicor Group and replaced by Jamaica Broilers and Stanley Motta. Only Mailpac Group moved out of the Junior Market TOP 10 and replaced by Access Financial Services that fell to $24.01 on Friday.
The three top Junior Market stocks remain unchanged from last week with Caribbean Producers leading, followed by KLE Group and Lasco Financial with the potential to gain between 307 to 546 percent by 2021. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica leads the pact, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group, with projected gains of 150 to 208 percent.
This week’s focus: General Accident is set to do very well. Last year’s earnings grew 48 percent from an increase of 22 percent in gross premium income and a 25 percent increase in net premium. The company acquired majority shares in the Trinidad based MotorOne Insurance that will add to revenues in 2020. One of the most critical development that investors seem to be ignoring is the likely sharp reduction in claims for motor vehicle accidents during the period of business disruption when there is far less traffic on the roads. Last year, claims amounted to $100 million per month. Historical trends show that the stock tends to remain fairly flat until the second half of a year.
Uncertainties exist in the economy and financial markets accordingly, and it is not possible to determine the exact impact on company earnings for the rest of the year. Actual earnings could vary materially from IC Insider.com’s forecast. Looking beyond the immediate fallout or benefits for companies can be useful in guiding investment decisions for above-average gains in the period ahead.
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, 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 12.8 and the Junior Market a mere 9, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a just 5.3 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.5.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 41 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 298 percent, for the Junior Market and 140 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 affects earnings significantly.

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

Modest trading on JSE US$ market

Trading on the JSE US dollar market on Thursday ended with moderate activity, resulting in five securities changing hands and ended with two stocks rising, two declining after one was left unchanged.
At the close, the market advanced by 12.88 points to 203.04. The PE ratio of the market closed with an average of 13.2 times 2020 earnings.
The volume of shares traded was well below amounts passing through the market on Wednesday as investors exchanged just 161,095 units with a value of US$4,685, in contrast to 1,959,096 units for US$382,572 on Wednesday.
Stocks trading are, First Rock Capital exchanging 15,808 units and shedding 0.8 of a cent to close at 9.2 US cents, Proven Investments gained 5 cents to end at 26 US cents, with the trading of 565 units. Sygnus Credit Investments gained 0.01 cent exchanging 6,912 units and closed at 12.09 US cents and Trans Jamaican Highway swapped 137,067 shares at 0.9 of a US cent after losing 0.1 of a cent.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 6% preference share traded 743 units at US$1.11.

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