KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 18): Shares of United Plantations Bhd (KL:UTDPLT) hit fresh all-time intraday high in early morning trade on Wednesday. The stock gained 2% to touch RM33.06 to become the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia.

At noon market break, it saw 294,400 shares change hands. United Plantations has gained 85% so far this year.

At RM33.06, the plantation company is valued at RM13.8 billion. It is now trading at 18.68 times trailing price-earnings (P/E) ratio, which is considered at mid-range when ranked among its peers.

In comparison, according to AskEdge data, plantation peers such as IOI Corp Bhd (KL:IOICORP) was trading at 15.8 times P/E, followed by Genting Plantations Bhd (KL:GENP) at 18.6 times, SD Guthrie Bhd (KL:SDG) at 21.3 times, Batu Kawan Bhd (KL:BKAWAN) at 25.4 times, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KL:KLK) at 40.1 times.

In terms of trailing dividend yield, United Plantation’s yield of 5.2% is one notch higher than its peers’, which range between 2.5% to 3.7%. For context, IOI Corp dividend yield stood at 2.5%, followed by KLK at 2.7%, Batu Kawan at 3%, SD Guthrie at 3.3%, and Genting Plantations at 3.7%.  

United Plantations has been consistently paying dividends every year since 1989, according to Bloomberg data.

This can be attributed to its superiority in generating profit in relation to its shareholders’ money, where its return on equity (ROE) stood at 25.5%.

This is far superior to its other peers, where IOI Corp’s ROE stood at 13.3%, followed by SD Guthrie at 9.2%, Genting Plantations at 5.2%, KLK at 4.2%, and Batu Kawan at 4%, based on ASKEdge data.