If you’re in the process of building an income portfolio, then you might want to look at the shares listed below.

Here’s why these ASX dividend shares could be in the buy zone right now:

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

The first ASX dividend share to consider is the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT. It is a high quality real estate investment trust with a focus on properties with specialist use, limited competition, and low substitution risk.

Among its portfolio you will find bus depots, police and justice services facilities, and childcare centres. The latter is its main focus, with the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT the largest owner of early learning centres in Australia. At the last count, it actively partnered with 35 high quality childcare operators.

The Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT was on form in FY 2021. It recently released its full year results and reported a 13.5% increase in operating earnings to $58 million. It also revealed that it ended the period with a weighted average lease expiry of 15.2 years and 73.2% of its properties on fixed rent reviews.

Goldman Sachs is a fan. It currently has a conviction buy rating and $3.81 price target on the company’s shares. The broker expects its shares to provide attractive yields of ~4.5% in FY 2022 and ~4.7% in FY 2023.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Another ASX dividend share to consider is Westpac. Australia’s oldest bank has returned to form this year following a tricky period during the pandemic. This led to the company reporting a bumper profit result in the first half, which has positioned it to return significant funds to investors this year.

In fact, last week the team at Goldman Sachs tipped the bank to return $5 billion to shareholders in the near future.

Commenting on changes to its earnings estimates, Goldman said: “We move our FY21E/22E/23E EPS by +0.7%/+4.3%/+7.2%, driven by i) improved balance sheet momentum, ii) lower 2H21E BDDs, and iii) our assumption of an A$5bn off-market buyback in light of its surplus capital and franking, partially offset by iv) lower NIMs, and vi) higher near term expenses.”

Goldman Sachs has a buy rating and $29.93 price target on the bank’s shares. It is also forecasting dividends per share of 116 cents in FY 2021, 128 cents in FY 2022, and 141 cents in FY 2023. Based on the latest Westpac share price of $25.76, this implies yields of 4.5%, 5%, and 5.5%, respectively.

The post Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares with attractive yields as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• August has been a good month so far for the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price
• These ASX 200 bank experts are forecasting a bumpy ride for our economy
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price rises after broker tips $5bn buyback
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• ASX 200 midday update: Westpac update, Breville and Magellan sink

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Reporting season went up another gear last week when an even larger number of companies released their latest results.

Three of the best results from last week are summarised below. Here’s what they reported:

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

Despite facing a number of headwinds, this biotherapeutics giant delivered a full year result ahead of expectations last week. For the 12 months ended 30 June, CSL reported a 9.6% increase in constant currency revenue to US$10,026 million and a 10% lift in profit after tax to US$2,307 million. The latter compares to its guidance of 3% to 8% growth. And while plasma collection headwinds are expected to weigh on its performance in FY 2022, leading to a decline in profit, this was largely expected by the market. Overall, the result went down well with Morgans. In response, the broker retained its add rating and lifted its price target on the company’s shares by 8% to $324.40.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

The Domino’s share price raced to a record high last week after investors responded positively to its full year results. In FY 2021, the pizza chain operator delivered a 14.6% increase in network sales to $3.74 billion and a 29.2% jump in net profit after tax to $188.2 million. This was driven by new store openings and solid same store sales growth across its ANZ, European, and Asian operations. Positively, FY 2022 has started strongly, with network sales up 7.7% year to date compared to the same period last year. The team at Citi were impressed. In response, the broker retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $159.05.

Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)

The Pro Medicus share price also jumped to a record high last week following the release of its full year results. In FY 2021, the healthcare technology company delivered a 19.5% increase in revenue to $67.9 million and a 33.7% jump in net profit after tax to $30.9 million. This was driven partly by the implementation of a number of multi-year contract wins from major healthcare institutions. Morgans was happy with its result. It lifted its price target on the company’s shares from $49.00 to $62.00. However, for valuation reasons, it has held firm with its hold rating. The Pro Medicus share price ended the week at $65.85.

The post 3 of the best ASX results from week three of reporting season appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• CSL (ASX:CSL) share price lifts despite UniSuper divestment threat
• CSL (ASX:CSL) share price charges higher on bullish broker note
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. and Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is having an August to make investors smile.

At close of trade on Friday, shares in the Australian big four bank were trading for $25.76 – down 0.23%. For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended 0.03% lower.

Since the beginning of the month however, Westpac shares have risen 4.93% while the benchmark index is 0.85% higher.

This green August comes after a so-so July. The Westpac share price fell 5% the prior month despite a rising overall market.

Let’s see what’s been affecting Westpac this month.

The month so far for Westpac

Shockwaves from the biggest M&A in Australian history, the $39 billion acquisition of Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) by Square Inc (NYSE: SQ), may have extended to the Westpac share price.

As Motley Fool previously reported in October last year, Australia’s oldest bank revealed a partnership with Afterpay which would see Westpac provide its banking-as-a-service platform to the buy now, pay later contender.

The offering was expected to be symbiotic – Afterpay gets white-labelled bank accounts and Westpac extracts revenue from the payments shift. However, that was before US-based payments giant Square entered the scene.

Now Westpac has been unnerved by Afterpay shacking up with the competition. Square commands a larger market capitalisation than the Aussie bank, at US$121 billion. The company is making a conscious move to disrupt traditional banks with its business deposits and loans.

Westpac also announced the sale of its life insurance business to Dai-ichi Life Group subsidiary, TAL.

TAL will pay $900 million for the business. It will also enter a strategic alliance to provide Westpac’s Australian customers with the service for another 20 years.

According to Westpac, the divestment “releases significant capital”.

Westpac has lost a total of $1.3 billion (post-tax) on the sale. However, it will add around 12 basis points to Westpac’s Level 2 common equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio. 

The big bank will record a post-tax loss of $300 million for the life insurance business in its financial year 2021 results. The immediate loss mainly relates to transaction and separation costs.  

Westpac share price falls on third quarter update

The Westpac share price slid after the release of its third-quarter update in August.

The bank revealed a CET1 ratio of 12% on a reported basis and 12.5% on a pro forma basis. As a result, the Westpac Board indicated it will consider a further return of capital to shareholders. An update on this will be made with its FY 2021 results later this year.

As well, Westpac gave an unfavourable forecast with its update. The bank once again reiterated that it was facing net interest margin (NIM) headwinds and therefore expected its second-half NIM to be lower than what was achieved in the first half. It also reaffirmed its expectation for its expenses to be higher year-on-year in FY 2021.

Westpac share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Westpac share price has increased by 49.3%. It has outperformed the benchmark ASX 200 by about 27 percentage points. Year-to-date it has risen 31.0% to the ASX 200’s 11.6% lift.

Westpac has a market capitalisation of $94.7 billion.

The post August has been a good month so far for the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These ASX 200 bank experts are forecasting a bumpy ride for our economy
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price rises after broker tips $5bn buyback
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• ASX 200 midday update: Westpac update, Breville and Magellan sink
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price falls on margin pressure concerns

Motley Fool contributor Marc Sidarous owns shares of Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and Square. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are some quality ASX shares that may be worth thinking about this weekend.

They are businesses that are producing earnings growth and have reached a strong market share.

These two ideas below may be attractive long-term opportunities if they can keep growing over time:

BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

This is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that is about giving investors exposure to 50 of the biggest technology businesses in Asia outside of Japan.

The West has plenty of big technology names like Microsoft, Apple and Amazon. But there are also some giants in Asia (excluding Japan).

Looking at the biggest 10 positions in the portfolio at the last update, they were: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Samsung Electronics, Alibaba, Tencent, Sea, Infosys, Meituan, JD.com, Pinduoduo and Naver.

Some of these are the biggest e-commerce retailers and the biggest global gaming businesses. Samsung is one of the biggest smartphone, TV and appliance makers. These are businesses with big market shares.

It has annual management fees of 0.67%. That’s higher than quite a few index-based ETFs but lower than many active managers who charge 1% per annum, or more.

BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF has been falling in recent months. At 31 July 2021 it had fallen 11.3% over the month. It has fallen another 6% since then.

Sometimes a drop in prices can be an opportunity to think about.

Despite that decline, since September 2018 the ASX share has seen an average net return per annum of 23%. But past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)

Volpara provides software, its clinical functions for breast screening clinics provide feedback on breast density, compression, dose and quality, while its enterprise-wide practice-management software helps with productivity, compliance, reimbursement, and patient tracking.

The ASX share has the Volpara breast health platform, its AI software platform, which is a suite of software solutions that collects and analyses information to better understand a patient’s breast cancer risk, while evaluating image quality and workflow improvement opportunities.

These capabilities are being extended to lung cancer screening.

The company has managed to increase its coverage of US women being screened to 33% in the three months to 30 June 2021. That was an improvement from 32% in the previous quarter.

Volpara’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) is now around US$19.2 million and client churn is low. In the latest quarter, its average revenue per user (ARPU) was US$1.42. But some sites were seeing ARPU was US$5.87.

The sale of multiple products to new clients is increasing ARPU. Upselling to existing clients is another opportunity for the ASX share to grow ARPU. Volpara continues to look for acquisition opportunities that can improve its offering or grow ARPU.

Its FY22 focus is risk and genetics. Volpara says that it wants to ensure that all women get extremely accurate risk assessment, go onto the right pathways and are monitored with world-class detection.

The post 2 ASX shares that may be worth looking at this weekend appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 3 small cap ASX shares to put on your watchlist this week
• BetaShares ASIA (ASX:ASIA) ETF slumps amid China slowdown
• 3 quality ASX growth shares for August
• 3 highly rated ETFs for ASX investors this month
• Expert: Chinese regulation worries could make Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX:ASIA) a buy

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF and VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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