The ASX 50 index is home to many of the highest quality companies that the ANZ region has to offer. And while not all shares in the index are necessarily in the buy zone, two that could be are listed below.

Here’s why analysts rate these ASX 50 shares as buys:

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)

The first ASX 50 share to look at is Cochlear. It is one of the world’s leading hearing solutions companies with a portfolio of industry-leading cochlear implant products. These include its Nucleus System and the Baha System.

But management isn’t resting on its laurels with these products. It continues to spend 12%-14% of its revenue each year on research and development. This is a significant spend and demonstrates the implant industry’s high barriers to entry and the competitive moat created by Cochlear through decades of R&D.

All in all, this leaves the company well-positioned to benefit from the ageing population tailwind over the 2020s and beyond.

Macquarie currently has an outperform rating and $256.00 price target on the company’s shares. This compares favourably to the latest Cochlear share price of $216.66.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Another ASX 50 share that could grow at a solid rate long into the future is Xero. It is a provider of a cloud-based business and accounting solution to small and medium sized businesses.

Thanks to its international expansion, acquisitions, the transition to the cloud, and its burgeoning app ecosystem, the team at Goldman Sachs believe Xero has multi-decade runway for growth. Especially if it can monetise its App Store successfully.

In light of this, it will come as no surprise to learn that Goldman Sachs is bullish on Xero. It currently has a buy rating and $158.00 price target on the company’s shares. This compares to the latest Xero share price of $142.06.

The post 2 ASX 50 shares to buy in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 and has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear 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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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) notched up its third consecutive day of green. At the end of the session, the benchmark index finished 0.31% higher to 7,387.6 points.

It was a broadly green day on the Aussie market on Thursday. The sector lifting the highest out of the bunch was utilities. Although, real estate, industrials, financials, and healthcare were all close behind it. Meanwhile, tech shares caught some pessimism, with big names like WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) and Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) moving lower.

However, 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, Pexa Group Ltd (ASX: PXA) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the property conveyancing platform rallied 6.50% despite there being no announcements from the company. However, another similar transaction facilitating platform, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK) received a takeover bid for $2.9 billion yesterday. Find out more about Pexa Group here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG). The funds manager gained 5.17% following a video update from Hamish Douglass hitting back at recent shareholder pressure. Uncover the latest Magellan Financial details here.

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

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Pexa Group Ltd (ASX: PXA)	$18.35	6.50%
Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)	$20.96	5.17%
Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)	$1.44	4.73%
Ansell Ltd (ASX: ANN)	$31.92	4.04%
Summerset Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SNZ)	$12.70	3.67%
Champion Iron Ltd (ASX: CIA)	$5.27	3.13%
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)	$2.81	2.93%
Ingenia Communities Group (ASX: INA)	$6.16	2.67%
Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL)	$5.63	2.55%
Codan Ltd (ASX: CDA)	$9.39	2.51%

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 owns AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Link Administration Holdings Ltd, and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell 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 Centuria Capital Group (ASX: CNI) share price finished in the green today after the company announced it has acquired more assets.

Shares in the company were swapping hands at $3.41 at market close on Thursday, up 1.49%.

Centuria Capital Group is a real estate funds manager boasting more than $18 billion worth of assets.

What did the company announce?

The Centuria Capital share price climbed after the company revealed it has taken over more than $466 million of healthcare properties in the last two months.

This includes 38 aged care assets in New Zealand for $276 million. These assets will be operated by New Zealand company Heritage Lifecare.

Centuria’s Australian-based Centuria Healthcare Property Fund will own 36% of the portfolio, while the remaining 64% will be owned by Centuria New Zealand Healthcare Property Fund.

In further news shared with the market today, Centuria Capital has also bought the $75.7 million Varsity Lakes Day Hospital run by Queensland Health. This includes six digital operating theatres, 24 consulting suites, physiotherapy services, a diagnostic imaging MRI facility, retail tenants and a gym.

The company has also secured a $38 million healthcare development site in Alexandria, Sydney.

Management commentary

Commenting on the news possibly pushing up the Centuria Capital share price, the group’s joint CEO Jason Huljich said:

These acquisitions provide unique opportunities to secure high-quality assets, further expanding Centuria’s healthcare platform across both Australia and New Zealand.

We foresee rising demand for bespoke, modern hospitals within our domestic market, which provide cost effective models of care that also focus on patient wellbeing.

Centuria Healthcare managing director Andrew Hemming added:

Demand for aged care real estate within New Zealand can continue to increase due to the undersupply of existing facilities and an increasing ageing population.

Centuria share price snapshot

The Centuria Capital share price has exploded by around 38% in the past 12 months and 30% year to date. It is also up more than 4% in the past month.

For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned more than 11% over the past year.

The company has a market capitalisation of roughly $2.7 billion based on its current share price.

The post What happened to the Centuria Capital Group (ASX:CNI) share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) shares have delivered the highest returns out of all the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) companies in the past year. During this time, the battery materials company has experienced an 8-fold increase in its share price.

Now standing at a market capitalisation of over $4 billion, investors on the sidelines are trying to establish whether this high-flyer will deliver the operations to support its lofty valuation. For context, the company recorded $5.23 million in revenue for the year ending 30 June 2021. This equates to a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of approximately 766.

Strong demand for electric vehicles is widely anticipated. However, Novonix will still need to prove it can carve out its place in the industry.

Plans for the year ahead

In the near term, ASX-listed Novonix will be focusing on advancing discussions with battery cell manufacturers. At the same time, the company plans to increase its annual anode production. Ultimately the first target is to reach 10,000 tonnes per year production by 2023.

Novonix’s purchase of a manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee is an important pillar in the company’s first phase target. This facility will be producing high purity and high consistency anode material for long-life batteries.

Additionally, the company will continue to develop its patent-pending cathode technology. The technology is based on a dry particle micro granulation technique. In 2022, Novonix will continue its research and development of this method in its Halifax facility.

An expert’s take ASX-listed Novonix

Despite the team at Firetrail Investments being bullish on electric vehicles (EVs), they are more cautious when it comes to the Novonix share price on the ASX.

In a self-published article on Livewire, Matthew Fist of Firetrail provided a detailed look into the battery materials company. Importantly, Fist separated the currently revenue-generating business segment (battery testing and equipment) from Novonix’s other divisions.

From here, the portfolio manager estimated this moneymaking segment could be worth $100 million. However, with a $4 billion market cap, Fist pondered where the remaining value is to be found.

Soon enough, Fist outlined the anode materials business as the all-important portion of Novonix — writing, “This is the part of the business that the market is excited about.”

After some quick maths, Fist estimated that if the company were successful with its ambitions, it would produce $130 million of earnings before, interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in FY2025. In turn, this 2025 forecast puts ASX-listed Novonix at an EV/EBITDA multiple of 43 times. For comparison, the battery materials average is between 10 to 15 times.

The post Will Novonix (ASX:NVX) grow into its multibillion-dollar valuation in 2022? 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 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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