The JSE has been buzzing this week. Blink and you might miss something big. The market is never dull if you know where to look.
At Cilo Cybin, Jessica Moodley and CEO Gabriel Theron purchased ordinary shares with a combined value of R16,683. Though the purchase is not a big toke (so to speak), it was likely driven by the government’s reversal of the short-lived cannabis edibles ban.
At Libstar, executive directors Cornél Lodewyks, Charl de Villiers and Terri Ladbrooke made on-market purchases of ordinary shares totalling 104,631. These collective acquisitions could signal a belief that the food producer’s shares are undervalued, as well as the executives’ confidence in Libstar’s execution of its “simplification, growth and sustainability strategy”.
At Spar, COO Megan Pydigadu — who only recently joined the retailer from technology group EOH (now iOCO) — snapped up 3,350 ordinary shares on March 26, perhaps anticipating a surge in value as the company gets ready to open up to 40 Spar Gourmet stores that will target affluent consumers.
Lighthouse Properties has seen a notable vote of confidence from insider-linked entities with Delsa Investments, associated with director Des de Beer, scooping up more than 2.8-million shares since March 14. The transactions suggest De Beer sees value at these levels, a good sign for this overlooked hybrid property investment company.
Coronation Fund Managers reported an increase in its voting rights in UK-based Mondi to just more than 7% as at March 20. Simultaneously, Coronation Asset Management increased its beneficial interest in Stor-Age real estate investment trust to 10.01%.
M&G Investments acquired shares in Pick n Pay and now holds a total beneficial interest of 10.16% of issued ordinary shares
In another significant shift, M&G Investments acquired shares in Pick n Pay and now holds a total beneficial interest of 10.16% of issued ordinary shares, perhaps suggesting it views the company as undervalued. Notwithstanding Pick n Pay’s huge loss of market share and crimping margins over the past few years, the share price has increased 51.5% over the past 12 months.
The Public Investment Corp (PIC) also reported adjustments to its major holdings. Its stake in Quilter decreased to 12.53%, while its holding in Thungela Resources decreased to 12.628%. Adjustments by a major institutional investor such as the PIC are often closely watched by the market.
Also noteworthy was the Ninety One South Africa Employee Benefit Trust’s on-market acquisition of 454,529 shares in large asset manager Ninety One for about R16m, paying an average price of R35.26. Ninety One’s share price is down about 28% over three years and 12% over a year. The trust’s purchase was not too far away from the 12-month low of R31.94.
Meanwhile, Sonja de Bruyn, lead independent director at investment behemoth Remgro, wasted little time after the release of interim numbers to scoop up 1,570 shares at R158.91.
A2X top performers
The top five performers on the A2X this past week were: Mondi, which took the lead with trade value of R88.9m (17.91% of market share); followed by Richemont with R295.5m (13.57%); Glencore with R152.2m (11.99%); Prosus with R389.2m (11.63%); and Sanlam with R115.09m (9.84%).
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