Day: 23 August 2021

The Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) share price is soaring today, up 6.09% to $18.30 per share.

This comes after the ASX 200 real estate share released its results for the financial year ending 30 June (FY21).

Charter Hall share price lifts on increased FUM

The company’s earnings highlights include:

• Operating earnings of $284.3 million
• Operating earnings per security (OEPS) post-tax of 61.0 cents per share (cps)
• Statutory profit of $476.8 million, after tax attributable to shareholders
• 5% return on contributed equity
• Declared full year dividend of 37.9 cps

What happened during the reporting period for Charter Hall?

In FY21, Charter Hall’s Property Investment portfolio increased by 18.8% to reach $2.4 billion. The portfolio generated a 15.0% total property investment return.

The portfolio remains well-diversified, with no single asset making up more than 5% of the total. Occupancy was 97.4% with a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 9.1 years, up from 8.7 years in FY20.

The company reported $1.1 billion of development completions during the financial year, with a re-stocked development pipeline growing to $8.8 billion.

Charter Hall’s share price could also be getting a lift after reporting its managed funds increased by 29% over the 12 months, to $52.3 billion. The company credits most of that to $5.9 billion of net acquisitions and positive revaluations of $4.1 billion.

On the funding side, the group has $6.7 billion of available investment capacity and more than $500 million on its balance sheet.

What did management say?

Commenting on the results, Charter Hall CEO David Harrison said:

[W]e have generated record fund inflows, gross transactions and FUM growth of $11.7 billion in FY21, whilst generating sector-leading returns for our investor customers and shareholders… Our success as a business is built upon partnering with our tenant and investor customers to drive mutually beneficial outcomes with a razor-sharp focus on being customer centric.

This partnership approach generated $5.3 billion of gross equity inflows, with all equity sources recording strong inflows. FUM grew 29% as our strategy of securing long-leases with best-in-class tenants continued to drive returns for investors. We transacted on a record $10.1 billion of assets, successfully deploying our investment strategies both on and off-market…

Sale and leaseback transactions represented over 40% of our transaction activity as we continue to partner with tenants and investors to unlock investment opportunities. Our develop-to-core strategy also saw us deliver over $1 billion in development completions.

What’s next for Charter Hall?

Looking ahead, the company offered earnings guidance (provided there are no significant unfavourable changes to current market conditions) indicating a 6% increase in dividend distribution for FY22.

Harrison commented:

As we begin FY22, we are well positioned with $6.7 billion of investment capacity to deploy into our $8.8 billion development pipeline, which will be further advanced with continuing equity inflows.

The Charter Hall share price is up 49% over the past 12 months.

The post Charter Hall (ASX:CHC) share price surges 6% on $477 million FY21 profit appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• How do BHP (ASX:BHP) earnings compare to Woodside Petroleum’s?
• Here’s what has been moving the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price in August 2021
• NIB (ASX:NHF) dividend up 70%, shares sink regardless
• 2 ASX COVID-19 shares reporting big growth

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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With so many shares to choose from on the ASX, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

Three top ASX shares leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts have upgraded this furniture and homewares retailer’s shares to an add rating but with a trimmed price target of $4.20. This follows the release of its full year results last week. It was pleased with its performance in FY 2021. And while it has lowered its earnings estimates for the year ahead, the broker still feels that Adairs’ shares are among the cheapest in the sector. The Adair’s share price is fetching $3.64 on Monday.

South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)

A note out of Goldman Sachs reveals that its analysts have retained their conviction buy rating but trimmed their price target on this mining giant’s shares to $3.60. Goldman reduced its price target after revising its earnings estimates lower to reflect higher than expected unit costs. However, this isn’t enough for the broker to become any less bullish. It continues to believe its shares are great value and is forecasting significant free cash flow yields of 17% to 19% in FY 2022 and FY 2023. This is expected to underpin double digit dividend yields in both years. The South32 share price is trading at $2.84 today.

TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG)

Analysts at Morgans have also retained their add rating but trimmed their price target on this telco giant’s shares slightly to $7.11. According to the note, the broker acknowledges that TPG’s cash flows were weak in the first half of FY 2021. However, it puts this down to timing and expects a reversal in the second half. It also notes that management does not expect any significant seasonality in the business, which puts it on track to achieve operating earnings of $1.7 billion in FY 2021. Based on this, it appears to believe its shares good value at the current value. The TPG share price is fetching $6.19 this afternoon.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Which ASX companies are the top movers in the ASX 300 today?
• TPG (ASX:TPG) share price sinks on broker note
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth
• 2 top ASX dividend shares that just delivered big growth
• After ASX mining shares crashed last week, top brokers are backing this miner

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. has recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended TPG Telecom 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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One of the biggest pieces of news in the August reporting season has been BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) earnings. The iron ore giant reported its full-year results last Tuesday ahead of a potential merger with Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL).

How does the BHP earnings result compare to Woodside’s?

It’s worth noting the key differences between BHP and Woodside at the outset. BHP is an Aussie miner with diversified interests across the energy sector. Woodside is largely an oil and gas producer — Australia’s largest independent dedicated oil and gas company at that.

The BHP earnings result included the highlights below:

• Underlying earnings before, interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 69% to US$37.4 billion
• Free cash flow up 140% to US$19.4 billion
• Full-year dividend up 151% to 301 US cents per share

However, iron ore and copper remain the primary revenue drivers for BHP. Of the total US$60.8 billion of revenue, just 6.5% or US$3.9 billion comes from petroleum.

When comparing BHP and Woodside, it’s worth looking at how the petroleum segment performed rather than the overall result. BHP’s Petroleum EBITDA totalled US$2.3 billion with the segment’s EBITDA margin up 3% to 58%.

For its part, Woodside reported a half-year EBITDA of $1,496 million. That included liquids production of 8.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe). Woodside generated $311 million in free cash flow

Off the back of the BHP earnings, the two energy giants have entered into a merger agreement. The transaction will combine each entity’s significant oil and gas portfolios via an all-stock merger.

The consolidated entity will create a global top 10 independent energy company by production. It is hoped that combining expertise across the two businesses will create synergies and a high margin oil portfolio. Woodside and BHP are also targeting long life LNG assets as part of the new entity’s strategy.

BHP shareholders would own 48% of the newly combined business with the merger expected to complete in Q2 of calendar year 2022.

Foolish takeaway

BHP’s earnings clearly disappointed investors with shares in the iron ore giant sliding more than 14% in the last 5 days. Investors will be hoping the combined power of BHP and Woodside can deliver large synergies and boost future results in the right direction.

The post How do BHP (ASX:BHP) earnings compare to Woodside Petroleum’s? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price bounces back, up 8% on Monday
• What’s moving the ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) on Monday?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Why the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price is down 11% in a week

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has had a rather interesting start to the trading week this Monday. At the time of writing, ANZ shares are currently up 0.07% to $28.33 a share after initially falling in the early hours of today’s trading session.

But let’s check out how the ANZ share price has performed over the month of August so far.

Here’s a share price graph of ANZ since the start of the month to kick things off:

Measuring from the start of the month to today, we can see that ANZ shares have gone from approximately $27.70 a share to $28.35 today. That’s a rise of 2.35%. Not a bad return for 3 weeks or so of waiting.

But the journey is a little more complicated than that. You can see a large swell in ANZ shares earlier in the month that peaked around Friday 13 August (not so unlucky for ANZ it seems). That marked the time ANZ hit its latest 52-week high of $29.64 a share. The bank is still down around 4% from that high today.

What has moved the ANZ share price in August so far?

As my Fool colleague Nikhil covered at the time, this peak coincided with the release of Commonwealth Bank of Australia‘s (ASX: CBA) full-year earnings release. This release, which announced a big dividend bump and a $6 billion share buyback program, seemed to light a rocket under the entire ASX banking sector.

Another factor that may have been assisting ANZ was the appointment of Farhan Faruqui as ANZ’s new chief financial officer earlier in the month. As we covered at the time, the appointment of Faruqi, currently an international executive at the bank, seemed to be well-received by investors.

But the sugar hit from these two events was short lived. As we flagged earlier, ANZ shares have been falling away from their new highs ever since.

Where to now for this ASX banking share?

So now that the ANZ share price has fallen back to earth, where might it go next? Well, one broker who has an idea is investment bank, Goldman Sachs. Goldman currently rates ANZ shares as a buy, with a 12-month share price target of $20.74 a share. That implies a potential 12-month upside of almost 8.5%, not including dividends.

Goldman reckons ANZ shares are being supported by the company’s net interest margins right now. As well as its low valuation compared to its peers. It also sees ANZ benefitting from productivity gains in the years ahead.

At the current ANZ share price, this bank has a market capitalisation of $80.6 billion. It also has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 17.2, and a trailing dividend yield of 3.7%.

The post Here’s what has been moving the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price in August 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s moving the ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) on Monday?
• CBA (ASX:CBA) share price gaining as bank rolls out vax centres
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth
• Down 8%: Is the CBA (ASX:CBA) share price a buy?
• 2 ASX 200 dividend shares with big yields

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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The NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) dividend received a strong boost following the company’s FY21 full-year results today.

No doubt, investors will be pencilling in the date when the private health insurer pays its final dividend in October.

Below we take a look at NIB’s FY21 scorecard and the details of its upcoming dividend.

How did NIB perform in FY21?

Despite NIB shares dropping throughout the day, the company reported a solid 12 months ending 30 June 2021.

The group recorded total revenue of $2.6 billion, up 2.9% over the prior corresponding period. Sales momentum continued throughout the year, with arhi (Australian Residents Health Insurance) policyholder growth lifting 4.2%. In comparison, the industry average is around 3.1% per annum.

Furthermore, the company expense claim came in at $2 billion, up 2.5% on this time last year. This consisted of 378,900 hospital claims and over 3.9 million dental, optical, and other ancillary claims across the board.

On the bottom line, NIB posted Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) of $160.5 million, up 84.5% against FY20. The sound end result benefited from net investment income of $51.8 million. Return on invested capital (ROIC) of 19.1% was in line with pre-pandemic levels.

In light of the robust performance, the NIB board decided to bump up its fully-franked full-year dividend to 24 cents per share. This makes up a final dividend of 14 cents and the interim dividend of 10 cents declared in February 2021.

Based on the current NIB share price of $7.21 apiece, this gives the company a trailing dividend yield of just over 3.3%. The payout ratio is roughly 68.2% of FY21’s NPAT.

NIB chair, David Gordon commented:

Overall, the NIB group is in very good shape. We continue to grow with increased profitability, we are well capitalised and there is no shortage of opportunity ahead.

NIB dividend key dates

NIB released the distribution amount and payment dates of its final dividend for the 2021 financial year. Here’s a summary of the important dates NIB shareholders will need to know.

Ex-dividend date

The ex-dividend date will be 2 September 2021.

Typically, one day before the record date, the ex-dividend date is when investors must have purchased NIB shares. If the investor does not buy NIB shares before this date, the dividend will go to the seller.

Record date

The record date for NIB’s final dividend is 3 September 2021.

Essentially acting as the cut-off date, this is the date where the company identifies which investors are on its register. Those who are on NIB’s books will be eligible to receive its upcoming dividend.

Payment date

The payment date for NIB’s dividend will be 5 October 2021.

This is when investors can expect to see the final dividend of 14 cents per share land in their accounts.

The post NIB (ASX:NHF) dividend up 70%, shares sink regardless appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Which ASX companies are the top movers in the ASX 300 today?
• Why Ampol, NIB, Redbubble, & Sonic shares are dropping
• ASX 200 midday update: NIB sinks and Sonic falls on full year results
• NIB (ASX:NHF) share price sinks 11% despite profit surge
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns shares of NIB Holdings Limited. 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 recommended NIB Holdings 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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There are some ASX shares that are still generating high levels of growth through this period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These are businesses that are growing revenue rapidly and are expecting to be able to continue achieving strong levels of demand.

In FY21, these companies saw high levels of growth:

Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL)

Sonic is one of the world’s biggest pathology healthcare businesses.

It has operations in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe. Sonic has been doing millions of COVID tests – it has done around 30 million so far. COVID-19 PCR test volumes were lower in the second half of FY21 compared to the first half, but it’s increasing again with the spread of the Delta variant.

The COVID-19 ASX share is also involved with the vaccination efforts. It has become Australia’s largest non-government COVID vaccination provider.

In FY21, Sonic saw revenue growth of 28% to $8.8 billion. But profit grew even faster as the company utilised its existing infrastructure which helped improve profit margins. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 81% to $2.6 billion and net profit after tax (NPAT) soared 149% to $1.3 billion.

The Sonic CEO Dr Colin Goldschmidt had some comments about the company’s core business performance and ongoing acquisition strategy:

Whilst a huge amount of time and effort has gone into combating the pandemic, we have never lost sight of the importance of continuing to provide our usual high quality medical diagnostic services. Whilst our total revenue grew 28%, our base business revenue grew by 6% on a like for like basis. The base business has become increasingly resilient to impacts of pandemic waves and benefits from our geographical and business diversification.

In addition to organic growth, Sonic continues to focus on synergistic acquisitions and other growth opportunities…We are actively considering further acquisition opportunities, as well as bidding for a number of outsourcing contracts.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

This ASX share is one of the leading e-commerce retailers in Australia with its furniture and homewares products. It’s growing quickly during this COVID-19 period.

FY21 was a record year for the business as it demonstrated high levels of revenue growth and increasing operating leverage. Temple & Webster’s FY21 revenue grew 85% to $326.3 million whilst EBITDA jumped 141% to $20.5 million. Active customers increased 62% to 778,000.

The trade and commercial division saw even faster revenue growth, with an increase of 110% year on year.

Management said that whilst lockdowns have accelerated the underlying shift from offline to online, it’s continuing to see “strong growth” even when comparing against COVID-19-impacted numbers.

This can be seen in the period from 1 July 2021 to 24 July 2021 where revenue increased by 39% year on year.

Over the long-term, Temple & Webster believes it can capture much more market share and grow its margins after a period of heavy investment.

The company said:

We will continue reinvestment strategy, investing into growth areas of the business to grow our online market leadership position with the ultimate goal of becoming the largest retailer (online and offline) for furniture and homewares in our home market.

The post 2 ASX COVID-19 shares reporting big growth appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Why Ampol, NIB, Redbubble, & Sonic shares are dropping
• Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) share price down 3% despite surging FY21 profits
• ASX 200 midday update: NIB sinks and Sonic falls on full year results
• Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) share price on watch after 149% profit boost in FY21

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 Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sonic Healthcare Limited and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. 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 Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price is bouncing strongly on Monday, up 7.92% to $2.18.

This is an encouraging sign of strength following a sharp 17.5% pullback from a record high of $2.46 on 11 August to a close of $2.02 on Friday, 20 August.

Why did the Pilbara Minerals share price fall last week?

Profit taking on the cards

To be fair, Pilbara Minerals had surged 180% year-to-date by 11 August. Such a strong gain would likely attract some selling pressure, especially when its shares surged 38.4% between 1 and 11 August.

Broader weakness among resources

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials (INDEXASX: XMJ) index has tumbled 11.05% in August, predominately driven by weakness in iron ore miners BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO).

A potential drag on the broader resources sector could be linked to the US Federal Reserve’s July meeting minutes released last week. The minutes flagged that “several participants noted that an earlier start to tapering could be accompanied by more gradual reductions in the purchase pace…”.

The proposed reduction in stimulus witnessed a sharp selloff across major US indices with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling 1.16%, 1.07% and 0.89% respectively on Wednesday, 18 August.

The broader weakness amongst peers and macro concerns could be another factor weighing on the Pilbara Minerals share price.

Bearish broker commentary

According to The Motley Fool US, Bank of America released a report last week reiterating an underperform rating on two of the biggest names in the lithium industry, Albemarle and Livent.

The report warned investors about a near-term increase in lithium supply as miners invest heavily to ramp up production.

“Such a rapid increase in lithium supply threatens to overwhelm even rising lithium demand, and depress the stock prices of Albemarle and Livent.”

Pullback? What pullback?

The Pilbara Minerals share price has rebounded strongly and is 12% away from its 11 August all-time highs.

Encouragingly, lithium spot prices have remained strong, with the latest update from Fastmarkets citing: “Domestic prices for battery-grade lithium in China rose on strong momentum in technical-grade carbonate market and tight supply in spot market.”

It also reported: “Battery-grade lithium prices in Europe and the United States rose on tight availability despite summer lull.”

The post Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price bounces back, up 8% on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Which ASX companies are the top movers in the ASX 300 today?
• Just how dependent is Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) on China?
• What’s moving the ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) on Monday?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth
• Can the Western Areas (ASX:WSA) takeover prompt BHP (ASX:BHP) to go nickel shopping?

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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At the start of each week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) continues to be the most shorted ASX share after its short interest rose to 11.4%. Short sellers have been going after the online travel agent due to fears over the spread of the Delta strain of COVID-19 and the impact this will have on travel markets.
• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has seen its short interest rise to strongly to 11.4%. This travel agent’s shares are being targeted by concerns over longer than expected delays in the travel market recovery.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has seen its short interest fall again week on week to 9.3%. Short sellers continue to close positions amid recent M&A activity in the BNPL industry. There is speculation Zip could be a potential takeover target of larger rival Klarna.
• Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has short interest of 8.6%, which is down week on week. Short sellers may have been closing positions amid optimism that lockdowns will boost this ecommerce company’s sales.
• Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING) has 8.3% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. Short sellers were targeting the company due to fears over its supply contract with Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW). It accounts for around 50% of its Australian poultry volumes and was due to expire this month. Unfortunately for short sellers, the two parties have agreed in principle to a renewal on broadly similar terms.
• Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS) has 8.3% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. Concerns over accounting methods, cash flow generation, and supply chain fears are weighing on sentiment.
• Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR) has short interest of 7.3%, which is down notably week on week. Recent M&A activity in the industry appears to have led to short sellers closing positions.
• PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has seen its short interest edge lower to 6.9%. This medical device company’s share are trading close to a 52-week low. This has been driven by its disappointing finish to FY 2021.
• Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) is back in the top ten with short interest of 6.7%. Short sellers aren’t giving up on this furniture and homewares retailer despite the expectation that lockdowns will boost its sales.
• Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) has also returned to the top ten with short interest of 6.5%. This gold miner has underwhelmed in FY 2021 due to production and regulatory issues. Also, last week it announced that it expects to recognise a non-cash impairment charge in the range of US$165 million to US$175 million during the first half of the financial year.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s how the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price responded last reporting season
• What Sydney Airport’s results could mean for Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) shares
• What could Sydney Airport’s results mean for Webjet (ASX:WEB) shares?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth
• Why Zip (ASX:Z1P) and these growth shares could be buys

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 Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, Kogan.com ltd, POLYNOVO FPO, Temple & Webster Group Ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, Kogan.com ltd, and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. 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 S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) is pushing higher on Monday, regaining lost ground from last week’s consecutive negative run.

During mid-afternoon trade, the ASX 300 is up 0.37% to 7,484 points. It’s worth noting that the index is around 2% from its record high of 7,625 points.

Let’s take a look at which ASX companies are the strong performers today.

The top movers on the ASX 300 today

Z Energy Ltd (ASX: ZEL)

The Z Energy share price is rocketing 15.22% to $3.33 following a takeover proposal from retail fuels and distribution business Ampol.

Z Energy shareholders have been offered $3.78 per share. This represents a 22% premium to the last closing price on 12 August 2021 (before receipt of the proposal).

The Z Energy board advised it’s in the best interests of the company and shareholders to grant Ampol a 4-week period of exclusivity. This will allow the company to undertake due diligence to finalise the proposal for negotiating the transaction.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Another strong mover for the start of the week is the Pilbara Minerals share price, up 8.42% to $2.19. Despite no news coming out of the company, it appears investors are buoyant on Pilbara Minerals’ prospects.

Last week, Macquarie raised its price target for the company’s shares by 35% to $2.70. Based on the current share price, this implies an upside of around 23%.

Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)

The Nearmap share price is rebounding after Friday’s sell-off, with a 7.38% gain to $2.11. While the aerial imagery specialist hasn’t released any market sensitive news, it did report its FY21 results last week.

Nearmap cited robust growth across key metrics, and is planning for an even bigger year ahead.

And which ASX 300 companies are heading the other way?

NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF)

Deep in negative territory is the NIB share price, down 9.02% to $7.26. The steep decline follows the private health insurer’s FY21 full-year results provided to the ASX today.

NIB reported a large increase in net profit after tax (NPAT), however investors seem to be concerned about the near term. The company acknowledged market conditions to have mixed consequences as a result of COVID-19.

TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG)

Also being weighed down by investors today is the TPG share price, down 6.53% to $6.15. The telco released its half-year results for FY21 with a mostly positive performance.

However, today’s decline can be attributed to a couple of brokers cutting their rating on TPG shares. Macquarie reduced its rating by 6.1% to $7.70, with Morgans following suit, taking off 0.8% to $7.11 per share.

The post Which ASX companies are the top movers in the ASX 300 today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Ampol, NIB, Redbubble, & Sonic shares are dropping
• Z Energy (ASX:ZEL) share price surges 15% on acquisition news
• TPG (ASX:TPG) share price sinks on broker note
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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns shares of NIB Holdings Limited and Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended NIB Holdings Limited and TPG Telecom 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 Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price has struggled on the charts since we commenced the month of August.

Whereas the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has climbed around 1.4% this month, Santos shares are approximately 8% in the red.

Let’s peel back the layers to uncover why this may be so.

What headwinds has the Santos share price faced in August?

Although potentially positive for the Santos share price, the market did not embrace its FY21 half-year results.

To illustrate, although the company grew revenue, net profit after tax (NPAT) and free cash flow considerably from the year prior – and increased its dividend by 162% – its share price sunk on the day of the earnings announcement.

Moreover, oil spot prices have undergone a correction towards the end of last week. The majority of the ASX-listed hydrocarbons basket saw selling pressures last week, Santos included.

With WTI crude oil trading at around US$62 a barrel, this signifies a 2% drop on the day and another sequential decline over the entire month of August.

Some pundits estimate the volatility in oil prices stems from fears regarding the successful reopening of economies around the globe.

Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its scathing report on the state of global warming. In it, the IPCC was critical of fossil fuel producers and their contribution to climate change.

Undoubtedly, the Santos share price has faced selling pressures since the report’s release on 6 August.

In addition, Santos shares started the month off under this downward pressure. To illustrate, reports surfaced in early August that the company was preparing to sell its share in the Dorado project in WA.

It was reported that Mitsui and Mitsubishi were both interested in acquiring 20% of the project, diluting Santos’ holding to 60%.

Moreover, the acquisition may extend to the company’s Van Gogh and Pyrenees sites as well, according to media reports.

Together, these three factors have coincided with a decline in the Santos share price since August 1.

Santos share price snapshot

The Santos share price has had a choppy year to date, posting a loss of 5% since January 1. Despite this, Santos shares are still 3% in the green over the last 12 months.

However, these returns have lagged the broad index’s gain of around 25% over the past year.

The post August hasn’t been a great month for the Santos (ASX:STO) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Why Cochlear, Santos, St Barbara, & TPG shares are dropping
• Here’s why the Santos (ASX:STO) share price is down 8% in a week
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

The author Zach Bristow has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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