United Capital, Fidelity Bank, Presco top stocks to watch this week

In the week that just went by, interest in stocks as measured by volume of transactions scaled up by as much 28.7 per cent week-on-week.

That affirms the increasing faith of investors in the prospects that shares offer at the moment, which eases the path for them to position ahead of more dividend and bonus declarations as the market awaits new corporate results.

The financial report of United Bank for Africa for last year is expected any moment soon and that of Dangote Cement could delivered around weekend, both of them major corporate actions that could point the way the market will head this week.

PREMIUM TIMES has assembled a number of stocks with fundamentals and other potential, adopting key analytical approaches to save you the hassle of randomly picking equities for investment.

The selection, a product of analytical market watch, offers a guide to entering the market and taking strategic positions in hopes that equities will gain value with the passage of time, particularly in the short term.

This is not a buy, sell or hold recommendation but a stock investment guide. You may have to involve your financial advisor before taking investment decisions.

UNITED CAPITAL

United Capital comes top of this week’s selection on its recent declaration of N1.50 dividend per share for 2021 compare to the N0.70 it paid for the preceding year.

Last week, it announced a profit after tax of N11.3 billion for last year, 44 per cent higher than that of 2020.

The investment bank’s earnings per share (EPS) as of Friday was N1.71, with a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio is 7.02x.

FIDELITY BANK

Fidelity Bank makes the pick for currently trading significantly below its actual value, which enhances its shares the possibility of appreciating considerably in future. The lender’s EPS at the end of the last trading session was N1.32 at a PE ratio of 2.29x.

PRESCO

Presco features on the list for trading below its real value at the moment, brightening the prospect of recording reasonable improvement in its share price in the future.

The oil palm processor reported a 258.6 per cent growth in profit for the financial year 2021 after an almost double increase in revenue.

Presco’s PE ratio as of Friday stood at 5.51x at an EPS of N18.87.

STERLING BANK

Sterling Bank features in the selection for currently trading below its actual value which makes it cheap for investment. The lender’s PE ratio at the end of the last trading session was 3.59x, while its EPS is N0.45.

REGENCY ASSURANCE INSURANCE

Regency Assurance makes the pick for currently trading well below its real value. It’s EPS is N0.10, while its PE ratio was 3.98x at the close of trade on Friday.

TOTALENERGIES MARKETING NIGERIA

TotalEnergies makes the selection for presently trading lower than its intrinsic value. The energy firm’s PE ratio as of Friday was 5.38x at an EPS of N49.26.