The Technical Advisory Committee of the Ibex 35 is holding its regular meeting this Monday in a meeting for which no new developments are expected. Except for a last-minute surprise, the ‘council of wise men’ will remain unchanged in the composition of the selective after a dry year of movements. With the exception of the adjustments in the weighting of CaixaBank, a value to which its ‘free-float’ coefficient was reduced in June, that is, shares that are freely traded, from 100% to 80%, the Spanish stock market benchmark is heading towards close the last twelve months without changes in its composition.
The team led by Mikel Tapia holds the last of the four meetings that take place during the year, one per quarter, in an event marked by the absence of candidates. One of the main requirements that must be met to become part of the Ibex is that the average capitalization of a company’s shares must exceed that of the index by 0.3% during a control period, which normally ranges between six months. . Although it seems that none of them have achieved it.
In this way, the Ibex 35, which usually groups together the 35 most liquid companies on the Spanish stock market, remains intact. You have to go back to the end of 2022 to find the latest additions. These are Logista and Unicaja Banco, which replaced PharmaMar and Siemens Gamesa after the takeover bid launched by their parent company, Siemens Energy. Both debuted in the first stock market division almost twelve months ago, in a period in which these two prices have stagnated.
The distribution group, which until a year ago was considered the eternal candidate, has barely risen 2.1% in the annual count, 2.7% since December 19, 2022, when it debuted in this league. Since then, its behavior has been marked by sluggishness with a market capitalization hovering around 3.1 billion, which translates into 24.1 euros per share at the close of last Friday. All of this despite closing its 2023 fiscal year, which ended in September, with an increase in profit of almost 37%, to 272 million, and achieving for the first time in its history that half of its sales come from non-associated businesses. . to tobacco.
Doubts about Logista’s growth lie in its ability to grow through acquisitions, a situation on which its long-term expansion depends. From the group itself they have already admitted that they continue to look for opportunities from complementary companies that can provide them with synergies, such as B2C (Business to consumer) distribution, logistics or the distribution of pharmaceutical products. In this regard, it is worth highlighting the landing in Italy with the purchase of Gramma Farmaceuti, within the framework of “laying the foundations to grow in a highly attractive sector and geographic market.”
In a context in which fears of economic deterioration can condition the volume of freight transport, the ‘Bloomberg’ consensus includes it among the favorites of the Ibex 35, with more than nine out of ten recommending buying. What’s more, it belongs to the club of zero sell recommendations, of which only a handful of securities such as BBVA, ArcelorMittal or Endesa, among others, are part.
Experts have placed great expectations on the group chaired by Gregorio Marañón Bertrán de Lis, which they give a potential of more than 20%, up to 29 euros per share. To date, its historical maximum is at 25.3 euros, which it reached last July. It should be noted that it comes from a meteoric 2022, in which its price soared by almost 35% in the middle of a disastrous year for the stock markets.
This figure doubles the growth experienced by Unicaja Banco in the same period (+18.6%), a streak that it has not managed to maintain in 2023, since with three sessions left to end the year it registers a drop of almost 5% . The fifth bank by volume of assets has experienced a year of great changes, among which the recent resignation of Manuel Azuaga as president of the board of directors stands out after completing the integration of Liberbank.
His departure symbolizes a change of stage with which he seeks to focus on profitable growth, the creation of shareholder value and the reinforcement of his presence in the six communities in which the entity based in Malaga is a reference, such as Andalusia, Asturias . , Castilla y León, Cantabria and Extremadura. In these circumstances that have led it to lead the declines of the Ibex bank, its price has been stagnant in the area of one euro per share since August. The good news is that its twelve-month potential has widened above 40%, the highest in the index with a target price of 1.39 euros per share, a level it has not touched since the end of 2018.