Day: December 10, 2021

Analysts think growth investors should buy these ASX shares right now

If you have room for some new portfolio additions, then it could be worth considering the three ASX growth shares listed below.

Here’s what you need to know about these buy-rated shares:

Allkem Limited (ASX: AKE)

If you don’t mind investing in the resources sector, then a growth share to consider is Allkem. It is a top five global lithium mining company, formerly known as Orocobre, with a collection of high-quality assets. These include Olaroz, Mt Cattlin, and the Sal de Vida brine project. Allkem has been and looks set to continue benefiting greatly from the sky high lithium prices being underpinned by the clean energy transition and the rapid adoption of electric vehicles. This bodes well for its growth in the coming years. Macquarie is bullish and has an outperform rating and $12.00 price target on its shares.

Lovisa Holdings Limited (ASX: LOV)

Another ASX growth share to look at is Lovisa. It is a fast-fashion jewellery retailer with a growing store network. Lovisa recently appointed a new CEO, Victor Herrero. He was previously the Head of Asia Pacific and Managing Director Greater China for Inditex (Zara, Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti). This went down well with the team at Macquarie, which notes that China (as well as India) will be a key focus for Lovisa. In fact, it sees scope for the company to open as many as 1,400 stores in these markets alone. Macquarie has an outperform rating and $25.00 price target on its shares.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

A final growth share to consider is ResMed. It is a medical device company with a focus on the sleep treatment market. ResMed has been tipped to continue growing strongly over the long term thanks to its industry-leading products and massive market opportunity. It also looks set to benefit greatly in FY 2022 from a significant product recall from a key rival. Credit Suisse is a fan of ResMed and has an outperform rating and $43.00 price target on the company’s shares.

The post Analysts think growth investors should buy these ASX shares right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Allkem 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 Lovisa Holdings Ltd and ResMed Inc. 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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Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL) share price dips as investors digest AGM

Shares in conglomerate Washington H Soul Pattinson & Co Ltd (ASX: SOL) spent a day in the red on Friday, closing 1.79% lower at $31.85.

The downtrodden Soul Pattinson share price performance came as investors digested the takeouts from its annual general meeting (AGM) today. Here are the investment highlights.

What did Soul Pattinson announce?

In today’s presentation, Soul Pattinson noted several key investment achievements in the past year including the merger with Milton, which chair Robert Millner said “brought together two of Australia’s great investment companies”.

The company advised that the merger provided many synergies given its “highly strategic” nature. These included portfolio diversification and additional liquidity for future investments, and higher cash generation from increased portfolio dividends.

As a result of the merger, the strategic portfolio is now less than 45% of its total portfolio, whereas the pre-tax value of the portfolio (per share) increased by 17.3% over the year to 30 November 2021.

Millner told the AGM that Soul Pattinson also increased its dividend payment this year to 62 cents per share, making it now “the only company in the top 500 listed companies in Australia to have increased its dividend every year for over 20 years”.

“We are extremely proud of the fact that the company has never missed paying a dividend since listing in 1903,” he said.

The company also has an ungeared net working capital position of $78 million as of 31 July 2021, and it raised $225 million in convertible bonds maturing in 2026. These notes will pay an annual coupon of 0.625% which are favourable terms for the company.

Finally, the company’s portfolio has a net asset value (pre-tax) of $9.25 billion as of 30 November. As such, NAV per share is up 17% for the last 12 months, per the release.

Moving forward, the company says it is focused on “key thematics” such as health and ageing, energy transition, agriculture, financial services and education.

Soul Pattinson share price summary

It’s been a difficult year for the Soul Pattinson share price, which gained just over 5% in the past 12 months, and is up 5% since 1 January.

In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO) has returned around 10% in the past year.

The post Soul Pattinson (ASX:SOL) share price dips as investors digest AGM appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

These 5 Cheap Shares Could Be Set For Huge Gains (FREE REPORT)

We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Altium or Afterpay when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true.

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The author 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 owns and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company 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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Here are the top 10 ASX shares today

Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) capped off the week with a red day. At the end of the session, the benchmark index finished 0.42% lower at 7,353.5 points. Despite today’s fall, the Australian share market ended up higher than its starting position at the beginning of the week.

It was a mixed day on a sector-by-sector basis, with healthcare and energy shares being the main anchors on the market. Oil and gas companies struggled through the day following a weakening in oil prices overnight. In contrast, utilities, communication services, and consumer discretionary shares provided some uplifting notes in the market today.

The question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the top ten stocks that came through for investors:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the mineral sands producer surged 7.29% after a bullish broker note from Macquarie. Find out more about Iluka Resources here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR). The lithium developer gained 6.84% today despite there being no new price-sensitive announcements from the company. Uncover the latest Liontown Resources details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU)	$9.42	7.29%
Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)	$1.64	6.84%
NIB Holdings Ltd (ASX: NHF)	$7.10	4.87%
Ebos Group Ltd (ASX: EBO)	$36.31	4.64%
Home Consortium (ASX: HMC)	$7.99	4.31%
Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)	$7.82	3.85%
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)	$2.60	3.59%
Infratil Ltd (ASX: IFT)	$7.90	3.40%
Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)	$53.08	2.91%
Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX: SPK)	$4.31	2.38%

Data as at 4:00pm AEDT

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check-in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended NIB Holdings Limited and Pointsbet Holdings 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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How much cash does Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) have and where might it be looking to deploy it?

It’s highly unlikely that many Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shareholders would lose sleep at night over the company’s balance sheet.

The 107-year-old blue-chip business has maintained a decent stash of cash for many years. In addition, the amount of debt carried by the Australian conglomerate has been trending downwards since 2016.

However, with a potential bidding war looming with Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) for Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API), now might be a good time to get familiar with the company’s available cash.

How much cash does ASX-listed Wesfarmers have?

There are many factors that influence the trajectory of a company’s share price over the long term. One variable of the equation can be the condition of a company’s balance sheet.

Ideally, there is enough spare cash sitting on the sidelines to protect the business from black swan events. However, another important use of spare capital is for providing increased shareholder returns. Sometimes this simply means dividends, while other times it can be strategic acquisitions.

In the case of Wesfarmers, the ASX-listed diversified business reported a total of $3.023 billion of cash and cash equivalents at 30 June 2021. These sidelined dollars have come in handy recently, with Wesfarmers throwing down a $763 million offer for pharmacy chain operator API.

Though, now Woolworths has entered the race with a bigger bid of $873 million. In turn, pundits are expecting that a bidding war might ensue. So, which company is better equipped financially? It turns out that Wesfarmers has about $2 billion more cash than Woolworths as of 30 June 2021.

What else could the cash go towards?

As my Foolish colleague Tristan covered last month, Wesfarmers is looking to increase the digitisation of Bunnings. Specifically, the company plans to grow its e-commerce operations, invest in new systems, and install a new analytics platform.

Additionally, Wesfarmers has been built on opportunistic mergers and acquisitions over the years. Thanks to a diligent management team, the company has grown to a market capitalisation of over $60 billion. If shareholders are going to continue to be rewarded with growth, the company could put this excess cash towards future appealing acquisitions.

Finally, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has been no match for Wesfarmers on the ASX in 2021. The company’s share price has risen by 16.2%, compared to the benchmark’s 10%.

The post How much cash does Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) have and where might it be looking to deploy it? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 owns and has recommended Wesfarmers 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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