Bounce for JSE Main Market

Stocks regained some of the ground lost in Monday’s trading when the market closed on Tuesday after an exchange of 65 percent fewer shares at 23 percent less value than on Monday at the close of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market with more stocks rising than falling
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index advanced by 793.87 points to 419,405.38 and the Main Index rose 732.08 points to 382,649.18, and the JSE Financial Index gained 0.60 points to settle at 98.30.
Trading ended with 46 securities changing hands compared to 48 on Monday and closed with prices of 18 stocks rising, 12 declining and 16 remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio closed with an average of 16.5 based on ICInsider.com forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with 11,593,159 shares traded for $63,685,850 down from 32,802,782 units at $83,157,380 on Monday. Sagicor Select Financial Fund led trading with 18.3 percent of total volume after an exchange of 2.13 million shares followed by Wigton Windfarm with 16.4 percent for 1.90 million units, QWI Investments accounted for 16.2 percent with 1.88 million units, Carreras with 13.7 percent for 1.59 million units. Transjamaican Highway ended with 12.7 percent for 1.47 million units and Pulse Investments with a 9.2 percent market share for 1.07 million units.
Trading averaged 252,025 units at $1,384,475 for each security, compared to an average of 683,391 shares at $1,732,445 on Monday. The month to date averaged 328,085 units at $1,225,912, in contrast to 333,020 units at $1,215,624 on Monday. Trading in December averaged 455,206 units at $7,774,631.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has eight stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and six with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Eppley slipped 70 cents to $23, trading 11,150 shares, Grace Kennedy closed 38 cents lower at $67.60 with an exchange of 47,497 stock units, Jamaica Broilers rose $1.06 to $29.11, with 355 shares clearing the market. JMMB Group climbed $1.04 to $33 after 463,646 units crossed the market with, Key Insurance lost 40 cents to end at $6.30, in exchanging 49,080 stock units. Mayberry Jamaican Equities gained 81 cents to finish at $7.14 after 74,800 shares cleared the market, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy advanced by $14 to $156 trading 25 stock units, NCB Financial slid $1.50 to $136, transferring 24,191 units. 138 Student Living shed 45 cents to end at $4, after exchanging 500 stocks, Pan Jam Investment gained 50 cents to close at $66, in an exchange of 2,349 shares, Portland JSX declined $1.25 to $7.10, with 1,000 units crossing the market, Pulse Investments gained 27 cents to $4.80 in exchanging 1,067,423 shares. Sagicor Group rose 85 cents to $47.50, with 156,219 units crossing the market, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 70 cents to close at $8.95 trading 500 stocks, Salada Foods fell $3 to $33, with 966 stock units changing hands. Scotia Group fell 50 cents to $44 after the transferring of 20,375 units and Sygnus Credit Investments closed at $16.10, with a loss of $1.80 136,520 stock units changing hands.
In the preference segment, Eppley 8.75% preference share rose 49 cents to $7 trading 55 units.

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

Big drop for JSE Main Market

Prices mostly tumbled on Monday leaving a big dent in the main indices on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market after an exchange of 192 percent more shares than on Friday, powered a 33 percent increase in value.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index dropped 4,370.75 points to 418,611.51, the Main Index fell by 3,942.49 points to 381,917.10 and the JSE Financial Index lost 0.93 points to settle at 97.70.
Trading ended with 48 securities changing hands up from 42 on Friday and closed with prices of 18 stocks rising, 22 declining and eight remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio closed with an average of 16.6 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with 32,802,782 shares traded for $83,157,379 versus 11,202,034 units at $62,395,199  on Friday.
Wigton Windfarm dominated trading by controlling 71 percent of total volume, with 23.3 million shares followed by Transjamaican Highway with 13.5 percent for 4.4 million units and Pulse Investments with 3.7 percent market share for 1.2 million units.
Trading averaged 683,391 units at $1,732,445, compared to 266,715 shares at $1,485,600 on Friday. The month to date averaged 333,020 units at $1,215,624 up from 307,577 units at $1,178,094 previously. Trading in December averaged 455,206 units at $7,774,631.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has ten stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Barita Investments fell 68 cents to $82.30, in trading 28,120 shares, Berger Paints added 50 cents to end at $13.50, with 962 units changing hands, Eppley climbed $1.69 to $23.70, with a transfer of 563 stock units. Jamaica Broilers fell 95 cents to $28.05, with the swapping of 22,447 stocks, JMMB Group finished at $31.96, after losing $1.04 trading 25,183 shares, Kingston Wharves dropped $4.98 in closing at $44, with 89,700 stock units crossing the market. Mayberry Jamaican Equities picked up 33 cents to settle at $6.33, after exchanging 34,282 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy rose $4.99 to $142, with the trading of just one unit, NCB Financial fell $1.50 to $137.50, in an exchange of 101,228 shares. Palace Amusement advanced by $214 to $1,215 after 3 stock units changed hands, Pan Jam Investment lost $3 to end at $65.50, with a transfer of 31,652 stock units, Sagicor Group slid $2.34 to $46.65, with investors switching ownership of 293,733 units. Sagicor Real Estate Fund shed 70 cents to settle at $8.25 trading 4,399 stock units, Salada Foods rose $1 to close at $36, in an exchange of 84 shares, Supreme Ventures shed 65 cents to $16.80, with 15,186 stocks crossing the market. Sygnus Credit Investments slipped 49 cents to $17.90 after transferring 18,380 stock units and Wisynco Group lost 33 cents in closing at $16 trading 84,310 shares.
In the preference segment, Eppley 8.25% rose 58 cents to close at $6.58, in exchanging 1,594 stocks.

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

Lumber Depot weekly IC TOP10 winner

Lumber Depot is IC TOP10 best performing stock in the past week with the price surging to $2 from $1.46 at the end of the previous week to close at $1.95 on Friday with a 32 percent rise. Jamaican Teas was next moving from $2.48, scaling a number of record highs to close with a gain of 16.5 percent for the week with the price closing at $2.89 on Friday.

Lumber Depot is the JSE stock gaining the most in the past week.

Caribbean Cream is the other Junior Market stock to post good gains for the week, with the price closing at $4.95 from $4.70 at the end of the previous week.
The Junior Market is up 4 percent since the 2020 close, that may not appear to be much, but if the gains continue at this pace for the rest of the year, the market will gain 67 percent get to more than 4,400 points. The market is currently powered by a bullish golden cross, setting to take the market beyond 3,000 points. The release of December results will play a big role in the next few weeks that will add fuel to the current gains.
The Main Market continues to slip in January, but technical indicator points to it heading towards the 460,000 points level on the All Jamaica Composite Index, in months.
The current TOP 10 report is based on earnings for 2020/21 as there are substantial gains ahead, for many stocks in the listings.
This week’s focus: Tropical Battery released audited accounts that saw profit dropping well below the $73 million initially reported by the company to just $29 million with the stock selling off to a low of 95 cents but bounced a bit thereafter.
Increase in taxation, depreciation and finance cost, were the main reasons for the decline in profit. ICInsider.com projects 8 cents per share earnings for the current year.
The audited accounts state that 1.3 billion shares are issued by the company, but further on in the note on share capital, it reports that a resolution was passed to increase the share capital by subdividing 250,000 the then issued shares by 4,550, resulting in 1.130 billion shares, instead of 1.1375 billion units that were issued. The note also suggests that the company issued 325 million shares to the public but omits to state that a portion was sold on behalf of existing shareholders.
The top three stocks in the Junior Market with the potential to gain between 208 to 363 percent are Caribbean Producers followed by Elite Diagnostic and Lasco Financial. With expected gains of 124 to 331 percent, the top three Main Market stocks are, Berger Paints followed by Scotia Group and Carreras.
The local stock market’s targeted average PE ratio is 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results, from now to the second quarter in 2021. The Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below the market average, indicating strong gains ahead. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 17.1 and the Junior Market 15, based on ICInsider.com’s projected 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks average a mere 7.9 at just 53 percent of the market average. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of 9.3 or 55 percent of the PE of that market.
The average projected gain for the Junior Market IC TOP 10 stocks is 174 percent and 127 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings. IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2021 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on likely gain for each company, taking into account the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in movements in and out of the lists weekly. 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.

Rising prices dominate JSE Main Market

Rising prices dominated trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market on Friday after a 57 percent decline in the volume traded, with a 25 percent increase in value compared to Thursday.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index advanced by 1,123.91 points to 422,982.26, the Main Index rose 1,017.06 points to 385,859.59 and the JSE Financial Index gained 0.32 points to settle at 98.63.
Trading ended with 42 securities changing hands, the same as on Thursday and closed with prices of 19 stocks rising, 14 declining and nine remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio closed with an average of 16.7 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
Investors traded 11,202,034 shares for $62,395,199 compared to 25,722,942 units at $49,768,965 on Thursday.
Carreras led trading with 45.2 percent of total volume for 5.06 million shares followed by Wigton Windfarm with 13.7 percent for 1.54 million units and Transjamaican Highway with 12.5 percent market share after 1.4 million units changed hands.
Trading averaged 266,715 units at $1,485,600, compared to 612,451 shares at $1,184,975 on Thursday. Month to date, resulted in anaverage of 307,577 units at $1,178,094 in contrast to 310,349 units at $1,157,230 on Thursday. Trading in December averaged 455,206 units at $7,774,631.

Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows nine stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Barita Investments rose 98 cents to end at $82.98, trading 11,785 shares, Caribbean Cement declined by $3 to $60 after trading 37,604 stock units, JMMB Group gained 50 cents to close at $33, in swapping 55,094 shares. Mayberry Jamaican Equities settled at $6, with a loss of $1.05 after exchanging 93,304 stock units, Palace Amusement dropped $88.90 to end at $1,001, after investors switched ownership of 27 shares, PanJam Investment climbed $3 to $68.50 trading 2,555 stock units. Sagicor Real Estate Fund advanced by 70 cents to close at $8.95, in clearing the market with 193 units, Salada Foods rose 99 cents to $35 while exchanging 300 stock units and Scotia Group finished 60 cents higher at $44.60, with 75,000 shares changing hands.
In the preference segment, Eppley 8.25% fell $1 to $6, with 5,000 shares crossing the market.

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

Another sliding day for JSE majors

Stocks ended the third consecutive day with negative reading after a 149 percent rise in the number of shares trading, but with 57 percent drop in value than on Wednesday at the close of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market on Thursday.
At the close, the market is down 2.7 percent for the year so far (39 percent annualized) as the All Jamaican Composite Index dropped 1,727.89 points to 421,858.35, the Main Index fell by 1,536.26 points to 384,842.53 and the JSE Financial Index lost 1.21 points to settle at 98.31.
Trading ended with 42 securities changing hands compared to 44 on Wednesday and closed with prices of 18 stocks rising, 15 declining and nine remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio now averages 16.6 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
Investors traded 25,722,942 shares for $49,768,965 from 10,349,742 units at $116,591,215 on Wednesday. Wigton Windfarm led trading with 44.2 percent of total volume, with 11.38 million shares, followed by Transjamaican Highway with 24.1 percent for 6.21 million units, JMMB Group 7.5% with 11.7 percent for 3.01 million units, QWI Investments ended with 9.3 percent for 2.38 million units and Sagicor Select Financial Fund with 3.9 percent for 1.01 million units changing hands.
Trading averaged 612,451 units at $1,184,975, versus 235,221 shares at $2,649,800 on Wednesday. Trading month to date averaged 310,349 units at $1,157,230, in contrast to 288,359 units at $1,155,210 on Wednesday. Trading in December averaged 455,206 units at $7,774,631.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows nine stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Barita Investments shed 50 cents to end at $82, in switching ownership of 22,635 shares, Berger Paints fell by $1.39 to $12.91, with 705 units changing hands. Caribbean Cement climbed $1.50 to close at $63 trading 187 stock units, Eppley settled at $22.01, after losing $1.94 and exchanging 1,300 stocks, Jamaica Broilers rose $1 to $29, in transferring 22,026 shares. Key Insurance rose 45 cents to $6.75, with an exchange of 20,882 stock units, Kingston Wharves gained 30 cents to end at $48.80, after 213 shares crossed the exchange, 138 Student Living rose 44 cents to $4.44, with 100 stock units crossing the market, PanJam Investment declined $3 to $65.50, with a transfer of 72 units. Proven Investments finished 40 cents higher at $36.90, in an exchange of 5,239 stock units, Sagicor Real Estate Fund shed 70 cents in closing at $8.25, in clearing the market with 2,042 shares, Scotia Group slipped 30 cents to $44 while exchanging 7,718 stocks. Stanley Motta gained 39 cents to settle at $5.45, in trading 296 stock units, Supreme Ventures rose 50 cents to close at $17.50, with the swapping of 50,071 shares and Sygnus Credit Investments advanced by 99 cents to $18.39, with 5,816 units changing hands.

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

More slippage for JSE Main Market

Trading ended with an 85 percent increase in the number of shares changing hands at 3 times the values than on Tuesday at the close of Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market with the market indices declining for a second consecutive day even as more stocks rose than declined.
The All Jamaican Composite Index fell by 1,177.07 points to 423,586.24, the Main Index declined 925.66 points to 386,406.15 and the JSE Financial Index lost 0.30 points to close at 99.52.
Trading ended with 44 securities changing hands versus 43 on Tuesday and closed with prices of 21 stocks rising, 14 declining and nine remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio closed with an average of 16.6 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 10,349,742 shares for $116,591,215, up from 5,599,223 units at $35,696,430 on Tuesday. Sagicor Select Financial Fund led trading with 20.5 percent of the volume after an exchange of 2.12 million shares followed by Jamaica Broilers with 19.05 percent for 2.02 million units, QWI Investments with 16.9 percent for 1.75 million units and Wigton Windfarm with 15.7 percent for 1.62 million units changing hands.
Trading for the day averaged 235,221 units at $2,649,800, compared to 130,214 shares at $830,150 on Tuesday. Trading month to date averaged 288,359 units at $1,155,210, in contrast to 292,746 units at $1,031,829 on Tuesday. Trading in December averaged 455,206 units at $7,774,631.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has ten stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments gained 40 cents to end at $82.50, with 1,246 shares changing hands, Berger Paints rose $2.29 to $14.30 trading 4,744 stocks. Caribbean Cement shed 60 cents to close at $61.50, after exchanging 103,117 stock units, Eppley finished at $23.95, with gains of $1.95, with 1,472 stocks switching ownership. Eppley Caribbean Property Fund advanced $3.99 to $45, with 434 stocks crossing the exchange, Grace Kennedy ended $3.18 higher at $67.98, in exchanging 504,922 units, Jamaica Producers lost 91 cents to close at $19.81, after 79,708 shares crossed the exchange. JMMB Group slid 45 cents to t $32.55, with a transfer of 12,304 stock units, Key Insurance gained 39 cents to close at $6.30, in exchanging 920 stocks, Mayberry Investments lost 53 cents to finish at $5.31, in trading 1,020 units. NCB Financial rose $1 in ending at $139, with the swapping of 25,215 shares, 138 Student Living rose 65 cents to $4, in exchange of 200 units, Pan Jam Investment gained 41 cents to settle at $68.50, after clearing the market with 5,825 units, Sagicor Group lost 75 cents to end at $49.25, with an exchange of 8,531 units. Scotia Group closed at $44.30, with gains of 30 cents after exchanging 12,713 shares, Supreme Ventures rose 35 cents to $17 trading 14,379 stocks, Sygnus Credit Investments finished 40 cents higher at $17.40, with the swapping of 74,012 stock units.
In the preference segment, Community & Workers Credit Union slipped 30 cents to $1.80 after trading 500 shares and Eppley 7.5% preference share rose $1 to $7 trading 138,753 stock units.

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

Declining JSE Main Market

Tuesday’s market activity drove more stocks down than up at the close of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market resulting in the main market indices declining after trading volume slipped modestly but with 39 percent higher value than on Monday.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index dropped 3,548.17 points to 424,763.31, the JSE Main Index carved out a loss 3,280.43 points to settle at 387,331.81 and the JSE Financial Index shed 0.77 points to close at 99.82. The day’s loss pulled the market down two percent for the year to date.
Trading ended with 43 securities changing hands, down from 48 on Monday and closed with prices of 16 stocks rising, 21 declining and six remaining unchanged.
The average PE Ratio closed at 16.4 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 5,599,223 shares for $35,696,430 compared to 5,906,893 units at $25,643,760 on Monday. Wigton Windfarm led trading with 19.7 percent of total volume for 1.11 million shares followed by Sagicor Select Financial Fund 17.9 percent, with 1 million units and Pulse Investments with 15.4 percent market share for 863,587 units.
Trading for the day averaged 130,214 units at $830,150 compared to 123,060 shares at $534,245 on Monday. Trading month to date averaged 292,746 units at $1,031,829, in contrast to 307,009 units at $1,049,528 on Monday. Trading in December averaged 455,206 units at $7,774,631.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows seven stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Barita Investments fell $1.82 to end at $82.10, in exchanging 50,001 shares, Berger Paints closed at $12.01, after losing $1.99 with 1,741 units crossing the exchange. Eppley lost 60 cents in closing at $22, with an exchange of 2,600 shares, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund slid $1.99 to $41.01 in trading 390 units, Jamaica Broilers rose 75 cents to $28.25, with investors swapping 1,943 stock units. JMMB Group gained 47 cents to settle at $33, in trading 51,000 shares, Kingston Wharves finished 50 cents higher at $48.50 after a transfer of 1,199 stock units, 138 Student Living shed $1.09 to close at $3.35 in trading 11,000 shares, Proven Investments lost 40 cents to close at $36.50 with 805 units changing hands. Salada Foods settled at $34.01, with a loss of 99 cents after exchanging 100 shares, Scotia Group climbed $1.90 to $44, in swapping 4,422 units, Stanley Motta slipped 41 cents to $5.06, in crossing the market with 4,021 stock units and Supreme Ventures shed 65 cents to close at $16.65, after 34,402 shares cleared the market.

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

All round gains for JSE Main market

The major market indices rose in trading on Monday after investors expended 32 percent fewer funds in trading 11 percent less volume than on Friday at the close of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market after slightly more shares fell than gained.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index advanced 1,389.55 points to 428,311.48, the Main Index rose 1,200.38 points to 390,612.24 and the JSE Financial Index gained just 0.13 points to 100.59.
Trading ended with 48 securities changing hands compared to 44 on Friday and closed with prices of 18 stocks rising, 22 declining and eight remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio averaged 16.6 based on ICInsider.com forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 5,906,893 shares for $25,643,760, down from 6,649,726 units at $37,545,320 on Friday. Wigton Windfarm led trading with 48 percent of total volume for 2.83 million shares followed by Pulse Investments, 11.1 percent with 655,714 units and Transjamaican Highway 10.3 percent with 608,465 shares.
Trading for the day averaged 123,060 units at $534,245, compared to an average of 151,130 shares at $853,303 on Friday. Trading month to date averaged 307,009 units at $1,049,528 for each security, in contrast to 326,985 units at $1,105,486 on Friday. Trading in December averaged 455,206 units at $7,774,631.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has nine stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of trading, Berger Paints rose 50 cents to $14, after exchanging 51 shares, Eppley gained 55 cents to end at $22.60 trading 3,851 units. Grace Kennedy closed 45 cents higher at $65, finishing with a transfer of 10,801 shares, Jamaica Broilers shed 89 cents to end at $27.50, with an exchange of 18,995 units, Jamaica Producers advanced by $1.40 to $21, in trading 23,808 stock units. JMMB Group ended 96 cents lower at $32.53, with 51,400 stocks crossing the exchange, Kingston Wharves climbed $1.24 to $48, in switching ownership of 4,055 shares, Mayberry Jamaican Equities shed 64 cents to $7.05 trading 16,542 stocks. MPC Caribbean Clean Energy dropped $12.99 to $137.01, in an exchange of 387 stock units, NCB Financial fell by $1 to $138, with the swapping of 39,251 shares, 138 Student Living lost 45 cents to end at $4.44, with 90 stocks changing hands, Palace Amusement declined by $10.10 to $1,089.90, in exchanging 123 stock units. Pan Jam Investment closed at $68, after losing $2.17 and trading 4,017 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund rose 70 cents to $8.95, in a transfer of 250 stocks, Salada Foods advanced to $35, with gains of $1.80 in switching ownership of 44,051 stock units. Scotia Group fell $1.90 to $42.10, exchanging 8,179 shares and Seprod gained 30 cents, ending at $63.80 after 10,198 stocks crossed the exchange.
In the preference segment, Eppley 8.75% preference share lost 50 cents in ending at $6.50 and trading 2,000 stock units and Eppley 7.5% preference share shed $1 to close at $6, after exchanging 1,717 units.

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

Mailpac drops out of IC TOP15 stock listing

Stocks left to languish at depressed prices for months are coming back to life as some investors are now seeing the light of the huge potential profit in Junior Market stocks compared to their senior counter paths in the Main Market.
The Main Market slipped a bit to end the first half of January, with a modest loss but technical indicator points to it heading towards the 460,000 points level on the All Jamaica Composite Index, soon. The Junior Market is up 2.4 percent since the 2020 close and is a few points away from the level reached at the close of March 5 last year, having surpassed the April high, as the bullish golden cross takes full hold on the market to launch a big rally.
During this past week, IC TOP 15 selections MailPac, Caribbean Cream and Jamaican Teas all posted gains with Mailpac hitting a series of record highs this past week and closed at $3.75 up 30.6 percent since the end of 2020 and is now well outside of the 2021 Top 15 list for Junior Market stocks. The stocks still have much room for growth in the year to benefit from a strong increase in revenues. Caribbean Cream posted continued growth in sales for the November quarter and almost doubled profit for the nine months period and increased it by 37.5 percent for the third quarter. The stock gained 50 cents at the close on Friday but traded as high as $5 during the week and moved from fifth spot last week to ninth position on the 2020/21 TOP10 list. Jamaican Teas gained 25 percent since December and seems poised to move higher as interest in the stock grows since the announcement of a three for one stock split late last year. An indication of increased interest is the exchange of 4 million shares on Friday. The stock moved from the fourth position last week to seventh this past week as it gained 24 percent for the week.
Lasco Manufacturing rose in the past week and moved out of the TOP10 Junior Market ranks, with Honey Bun replacing it.
The current TOP 10 report is based on earnings for 2020/21 as there are substantial gains ahead, for many stocks in the listings.
Investors should be on the lookout for new quarterly results with Express Catering and Margaritavillle and should release results this week. Before the month ends, expect results from Caribbean Cement, QWI, NCB Financial, Barita and the three Lasco companies.
The top three stocks in the Junior Market with the potential to gain between 208 to 373 percent are Lasco Financial, followed by Caribbean Producers and Elite Diagnostic. With expected gains of 125 to 315 percent, the top three Main Market stocks are, Berger Paints followed by Grace Kennedy and Jamaica Broilers.
The local stock market’s targeted average PE ratio is 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results, from now to the second quarter in 2021. The Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below the market average, indicating strong gains ahead. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 16.4 and the Junior Market 14.6, based on ICInsider.com’s projected 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks average a mere 7.6 at just 52 percent of the market average. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of 9.2 or 56 percent of the PE of that market.
The average projected gain for the Junior Market IC TOP 10 stocks is 185 percent and 130 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings. IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2021 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on likely gain for each company, taking into account the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in movements in and out of the lists weekly. 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.

Friday’s trading halts falling market Index

Stocks prices declining outpaced those rising by a ratio of two to one at close on Friday, but market activity brought modest relief to the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market that has been suffering declines for most of the week.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index advanced 909.45 points to 426,921.93, the JSE Main Index rose 665.72 points to 389,411.86, and the JSE Financial Index gained 0.29 points to close at 100.46.
Trading ended with 44 securities changing hands compared to 43 on Thursday and closed with prices of 10 stocks rising, 20 declining and 14 remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio closed with an average of 16.6 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 49 percent fewer shares than on Thursday as 6,649,726 shares traded for $37,545,320 compared to 12,956,415 units at $60,027,692 on Thursday. Pulse Investments led trading with 37.8 percent of total volume for 2.52 million shares, followed by QWI Investments with 23.4 percent for 1.55 million units and Transjamaican Highway 13.1 percent, with 871,930 units.
Trading for the day averaged 151,130 units at $853,303, compared to 301,312 shares at $1,395,993 on Thursday. Trading month to date averaged 326,985 units at $1,105,486, in contrast to 346,427 units at $1,133,366 on Thursday. Trading in December averaged 455,206 units at $7,774,631.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has ten stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of trading, Caribbean Cement fell by $1.30 to end at $62.20, after 5,041 shares cleared the market, Eppley climbed $2.62 to $22.05, with an exchange of 39,312 shares, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund declined by $5 to end at $43 after trading 9,899 units. First Rock Capital shed 35 cents to close at $12.65, in an exchange of 23,397 shares, Grace Kennedy slid 44 cents to $64.55, with 29,798 stock units changing hands, Jamaica Broilers gained 39 cents to end at $28.39, in trading 2,744 units. Jamaica Producers shed 40 cents to $19.60, with swapping of 204,526 stocks, Jamaica Stock Exchange finished at $18.31, after losing 64 cents and transferring 19,484 units, JMMB Group rose 98 cents to $33.49, with investors swapping 45,098 stocks. Kingston Wharves shed 74 cents to end at $46.76, in switching ownership of 425 units, NCB Financial fell $1 to $139, with 37,390 stock units crossing the market, Palace Amusement dropped $200 in closing at $1,100, with an exchange of 39 units. PanJam Investment fell $1.77 to $70.17, in transferring 1,793 units, Salada Foods ended at $33.20, with a loss of $2.80 trading 21,881 stocks, Scotia Group rose $1 to $44, after exchanging 22,377 shares, Seprod shed 70 cents in closing at $63.50, in an exchange of 10,331 stocks and Stanley Motta settled at $5.45, with gains of 39 cents while exchanging 7,231 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.