Trading under the stock symbol HVN, the company pared gains by the session’s close, still finishing up by 3.18 percent to P2,270 per share.
That intraday movement—which momentarily pushed up HVN’s share price to P2,598, reaching a market value of P1.67 trillion—was made on a trade of 5 shares worth a few thousand pesos, a stock trader told InsiderPH.
HVN, which listed in 2016 as Golden Haven Memorial Park, is one of the year’s top performers, gaining over 173 percent, despite low market participation.
The company, which develops memorial lots and affordable market-focused Bria Homes, is now worth P1.46 trillion.
Bigger than SM
This values the company about P270 billion more than Sy family-led blue chip SM Investments Corp., which owns the country’s biggest shopping mall group and bank.
“HVN is an oddity. I think there are similar cases in other exchanges but the stock takes it to an extreme level,” Nicky Franco, Abacus Securities’ research head, told InsiderPH.
But even HVN, whose shares a tightly held by the family given its public ownership level of 11.3 percent, which is just above the minimum 10 percent required by the Philippine Stock Exchange, was up there when compared to examples in other markets.
Has the Philippine Stock Exchange ever seen anything like this?
“Nothing close,” Franco said.
Valuation is in heaven
Analysts often use the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to assess whether a stock is a bargain or overpriced. A lower P/E ratio suggests the stock is undervalued, while a higher ratio indicates it may be overpriced.
HVN has an estimated P/E ratio of 948, based on its profit of P774 million in the first six months.
In comparison, SM is trading at 14.8 times earnings, based on profits of P40.2 billion during the same period.
Villar, the country’s second-richest individual after tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., also controls six other listed firms.
These are AllDay Marts Inc. (P3.36 billion), AllHome Corp. (P2.85 billion), Premiere Island Power REIT Corp. (P7.24 billion), Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. (P22.1 billion), VistaREIT Inc. (P13.28 billion), and Vistamalls Inc. (P16.1 billion).
Combined, the companies are worth P65 billion, or 4.5 percent of HVN’s market value.
Villar City play?
Early this month, HVN announced plans to purchase property in Villar City, the tycoon’s 3,500-hectare estate that encompasses parts of Cavite province and Metro Manila, for P5.2 billion.
The project was described as a new “megalopolis” that will include two golf courses, a church, an events arena, a university, and an integrated entertainment complex.
In past interviews, Villar said he plans to build casinos, housing and offices.
Notably, HVN will spearhead the development of Villar City. Is excitement over the project fueling the company’s unstoppable market rally?
“This is where fundamental analysis is no longer enough of an explanation,” a banker told InsiderPH.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
