AIICO, Ikeja Hotel, Fidson top stock picks this week

Last week, the Nigerian equity market ran limited trading sessions as the country observed Friday as a public holiday in commemoration of this year’s Good Friday. Index movement was flattish, with the all-share index inching up by 0.4 per cent, driven by banking sector stocks.

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Investors and analysts are still awaiting the audited corporate results of a good number of lenders notably First HoldCo, Access Holdings and Zenith, which should be out any moment soon and could be one of the major driver of price movement in the near time.

“As we approach a new quarter, we expect bargain hunting in fundamentally sound stocks to emerge; this is supported by possible ongoing portfolio rebalancing,” analysts at Meristem Securities said in their note to investors ahead of the week.

PREMIUM TIMES has assembled a list of stocks with sound fundamentals, adopting rigorous approaches to help you avoid the risk of picking equities at random for investment.

The pick, the result of an analytical market watch, offers a guide to entering the market and taking strategic positions, with the expectation that selected stocks will record reasonable price appreciation over time.

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

AIICO Insurance

AIICO Insurance tops this week’s list for its fairly impressive 2025 corporate results and for proposing a dividend of N0.12 per share for the 2025 financial year, 41.7 per cent higher than what it paid for the previous year.

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The net profit ratio (NPR) of the underwriter is 11.8, while the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio is 8.6x. Its relative strength index (RSI) is 52.3.

Ikeja Hotel

Ikeja Hotel appears on the pick list based on its strong financial performance in 2025 and its proposal of a N0.33 per share final dividend for the year, which compares to the N0.15 it paid for the same period of the preceding year. The NPR of the hospitality provider is 53.9, while the PE ratio is 11.7x. The RSI is 43.7.

Fidson Healthcare

Fidson Healthcare makes the selection for proposing a 50 per cent dividend increase for the 2025 financial year, compared to the preceding year. The company’s NPR is 8.3, while the PE ratio is 26.1x. Its RSI is 49.7.

Custodian Investment

Custodian Investment makes the cut for announcing a final dividend of N2.50 per share for the 2025 financial year, more than double what it paid shareholders for the previous year. The NPR of the company is 30.1, while the PE ratio is 5x. Its RSI is 54.5.