Heeton Holdings, a modest sized developer, turned out to be a top volume stock and a top gainer on Aug 6. The chart shows prices surged on heavy volume, reaching pre-pandemic prices of 30.5 cents. Its net profit turned around from a loss of $8 million a year ago, to record a profit of $1.7 million in 1HFY2021. The miniscule profit belies the developer’s net asset value of 90 cents per share. And at 30.5 cents, the stock is trading at just a third of its NAV.
However, this could be a value trap. In FY2020, Heeton’s ROE was negative and its annualised ROE based on 1HFY2021 earnings is barely 1%. Meanwhile its weighted average cost of equity and weighted average cost of capital based on Bloomberg’s data are 9.23% and 2.92% respectively.
See also: Heeton-led consortium announces opening of new DoubleTree by Hilton in London
As traders drove up Heeton’s share price on Aug 6, they probably realised that the stock could be a value trap, and a black candle was formed, where prices closed below their opening. As a confirmation, smoothed RSI is at an overbought high. While this does not mean that prices cannot go higher, the black candle formation suggests that sellers may outnumber buyers. As such, resistance/ upside maybe capped at 32 cents, and support appears at the bottom of the gap at 28.5 cents.
Elsewhere among real estate companies, Singapore Press Holdings inched higher as did CapitaLand ahead of its EGM on Aug 10.
For more stories about where the money flows, click here for our Capital section
The Straits Times Index continues to display resilience, ending up seven points week-on-week. While this appears extremely modest, technically, the index has managed to remain above its 50- and 100-day moving averages, currently at 3,147 and 3,155 respectively.
ADX is at 9 which is a very low level, and an indication of a lack of discernable trend for the STI. The DIs are neutral. Quarterly momentum remains at a several-times tested resistance at its equilibrium line for the 8th consecutive week. The breakout level for the index is at 3,178. A break below the 50- and 100-day moving averages would deter and defer a breakout.
