Security Exchange: Stocks most sought in 12 months

Car and General emerged the best performing stock year-to-date while Carbacid paid the highest dividend yield among listed companies in the last 12 months.

Research by Mwango Capital shows that Car and General stock surged by 57 per cent while Carbacid’s dividend yield was up 14 per cent making them the most profitable portfolios in the last 12 months.

Further, the research shows that British America Tobacco (BAT) returned the highest total dividend of Sh45 per share.

“Car and General had the highest total return at 57.95 per cent while Standard Group had the lowest return at -39.78 per cent, while 5 of the 11 listed banks paid a dividend,” Mwango Capital said in the findings.

Telcos come second

During that period, the second-best performing shares were in the telcom category, thanks to Safaricom, followed by the banking sector stocks.

The telcom sector is up 10 per cent while the banking sector is up 9 per cent year-to-date while the agriculture sector is up 3 per cent.

In the banking sector, Diamond Trust Bank was the biggest casualty having fallen by 20 per cent with no dividend payout.

The NSE 20, NSE 25, and the NASI indices all went up while none of the companies in the Investments sector had a positive return.

The investment segment counters include Centum, Home Africa, Kurwitu, Transcentury and Olympia.

None of the companies in the commercial and services sector paid a dividend. The commercial counters include Eveready, Nation Media Group, Kenya Airways, Scangroup and TPS Serena among others.

After BAT, Kakuzi, Stanchart, Kapchorua and Williamson also paid high nominal dividends compared to other stocks on the bourse. Others are Jubilee, BOC and Stanbic Holdings.

Stock appreciation

The investment, construction, commercial services and energy sectors were the worst performing stocks on the NSE as measured by stock appreciation.

Overall, the NSE continues to be weighed down by a cache of suspended counters such as Deacons, Uchumi and other counters going through near death experiences.

In the commercial sector other than Standard Group, WPP Scangroup was also down 31 per cent and has not paid in any dividends in the last 12 months.

The market has seen manufacturing, energy shares struggle as investors seek safety in more liquid counters where they can enter and exit quickly.