Astino rises 2.6% on attractive trading value

by **Cals** Tue 14 Apr 2015, 18:57

Astino rises 2.6% on attractive trading value

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By Chen Shaua Fui / theedgemarkets.com | April 14, 2015 : 1:14 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 14): [size=14]Astino Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) rose as much as 2.5 sen today on attractive trading value.

At 12.30pm, the stock was up 2.61% or 2 sen to 78.5 sen with 434,200 shares done.

Astino (fundamental: 1.3; valuation: 3) is a metal roof sheet maker.

In a note to its client today, Hong Leong Investment Bank’s analyst Nick Foo said that Astino was trading at 12% discount to its closest peer Ajiya Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard)'s (fundamental: 2.1; valuation: 1.4) price-earnings ratio of 8.2 times.

“Hence, we believe there is room for further re-rating as Astino’s share prices play catch-up,” said Foo.

However, Astino's was not rated.

He said as technicals are on the mend coupled with the double bottom formation and rising volume, the rebound could continue.

"A decisive breakout above immediate resistance of 78.5 sen (Apr 2 high) will lift prices higher towards 83 sen and our long-term price objective of 87 sen,” Foo said.

He pointed out that at 76.5 sen, Astino is trading at 7.2 times financial year 2014 price-earnings ratio (FY14 P/E) and 26% below its book value per share (BVPS) of RM1.03, despite more superior average FY11–14 net profit margin of 6.5% (Ajiya: 5.3%) and dividend yield of 4.0% (Ajiya: 1.4%).

Based on weekly chart, Foo said, Astino prices have been trending within the long-term uptrend channel since the 35 sen low in March 2013.

Astino’s share prices rallied 4.8% yesterday to 76.5 sen with 552,000 shares transacted, 411% higher against 3-month average of 108,000 shares and 470% higher than 6-month average of 97,000 shares, respectively, he added.

“We believe the 32.6% correction from 52-week of 95 sen high (Aug 19, 2014) to a low of 64 sen (Dec 7, 2014) could be at the tail end following the relief rally back above 71.5 sen.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)
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