Hot Stock SapuraKencana rises after EPF ups stake

by **Cals** Thu 28 Jan 2016, 22:08

Hot Stock

[size=28]SapuraKencana rises after EPF ups stake

By Chong Jin Hun / theedgemarkets.com | January 28, 2016 : 10:10 AM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 0.65) rose as much as seven sen or 4% after the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) upped its stake in the company.

SapuraKencana shares, which had earlier traded among Bursa Malaysia top gainers, rose to their highest so far today at RM1.72.

At 9:37am, the stock was transacted at RM1.70 for a market value of RM10.18 billion. Some three milion shares changed hands.

SapuraKencana said in separate annoucements to the bourse that the EPF had acquired three million shares over two days last week.

On Jan 20 and 21, the EPF bought two million and one million shares respectively, according to SapuraKencana. Following the purchases, the EPF owned 14.79% in SapuraKencana.

Today, AmInvestment Bank Bhd analyst Alex Goh said the research firm had a target price (TP) of RM1.50 for SapuraKencana shares. The TP came with a "hold" call for the stock.

On the Malaysian oil and gas sector, Goh said AmInvestment had a "neutral" recommendation for the industry.

"Our neutral call on the sector is maintained as prospects for a sustainable turnaround in crude oil prices are opaque at this stage with the re-entry of Iranian oil into world markets. We prefer companies with stable and recurring earnings such as Dialog Group ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.10, Fundamental: 2.30) and Yinson ( Valuation: 1.80, Fundamental: 1.50)," Goh said.

(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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