KUALA LUMPUR (April 2): Shares of Mitrajaya Holdings Bhd advanced today after Hong Leong IB Research listed the stock as on of its two top picks in the construction sector.

At 9.51am, Mitrajaya (Fundamental: 1.70; Valuation: 1.80) rose four sen to RM1.71 with 744,700 shares done.

Hong Leong IB Research has maintained its “Overnight” rating on the construction sector with IJM Corporation Bhd (replacing Gamuda Bhd) and Mitrajaya as its top picks and said domestic contract awards for 1Q15 grew 160% year-on-year to RM4 billion (but fell 57% quarter-on-quarter).

In a note today, the research house said the upside to its 2015 target of RM15 billion (2014: RM18 billion) considering the strong showing in 1Q.

“Foreign contracts awards for 1Q15 was also strong at RM2 billion (+250% y-o-y), q-o-q up from low base of RM47m.

“Stay Overweight. Momentum of job flows remain robust, 11MP in May is the next catalyst.

“Top picks are IJM Corp (replacing Gamuda) and Mitrajaya,” it said.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations. Go to www.theedgemarkets.com for details on a company’s financial dashboard.)